Keeping the faith
 
To open the stove door at dawn
and find some embers still aglow
within their comfy bed of ash

To build this morning’s fire upon their promise
and with focussed breath
to burst it into flame
 
It’s as if some kind old soul
has been praying for me all night long
watching over me
keeping the faith
 
To peg my shirt and underwear around the warming chimney pipe
to put the kettle on
to make my morning cup of tea
 
To clothe my nakedness
in the welcome warmth
of this relay race of grace
 
To sit by this window
and write this poem
whilst the sun
(from whom all fire and flame proceed)
rises gloriously through the morning clouds
to burst upon the sea
a path of such dazzling and inviting light
 
This
is the medicine
that daily
brings me back to life