CONSECRATED TO THE FLAME
It was a day of upheaval
Consecrated to the flame
Yet her face was a mass of calm
No wind disturbed its outer crust
The fire raged within.
The molten lava spread to crevices within
Electrifying each nerve-ending to and fro
Lightning struck, vision cleared
The delight of
transparency
The body, the soul, the flesh, the flame
All were renewed and born anew.
She again walked the surface of Earth
A creature of dust
And yet so far removed
As a child in its mother’s womb lies protected
So she from the direness of worldly life
A creature with eyes radiant and
bright.
----------FARZANA QUADER,