The Fire
Is the fire what keeps us going and sustaining us throughout life? Is it our purpose, our drive, our ambition?
And if so, is it not also the very thing that kills us? Fire consumes itself and eventually, all fires will burn out.
The faster and brighter the flame, the faster the demise.
But those who are like the steady coals underneath will outlast them all.
They are the true power, the source of the flame.
But the flame gets all the glory. All the hype. Everyone loves to watch them dance and shoot sparks off; pieces of themselves, sometimes their souls.
The flames are beautiful and enchanting and what everyone pictures when you talk of fire.
The flames are the creative, brilliant ones. Showing us the magic and essence of life. How beautiful it can be. Dancing their way towards the sky. Always pushing towards the heavens.
Away from the earth.
We envy the flame. We curate our lives like the flame.
But the flame only exists because of the unseen heat at the very bottom of the pit.
The coals, unmoving and unnerved continue to generate enough heat to embolden the intensity and audacity of the flame.
They do not boast. They do not emit an array of shapes and colors.
They sit and give. Maybe they too are enchanted by the very flames they create and find their purpose in boosting up the light.
Or perhaps they are simply rooted in the earth and have no desire to shoot upwards and race to the inevitable end.
As they are the last to go. Long after the jumping tails of yellow and orange have disappeared, the coals will silently glow.
They will take their time to fade into nothingness. Stubborn and unforgiving. They know exactly how much heat is left in their bones and they intend to savor that energy for as long as possible.
Foolish to some, inspiring to others.
