BLAZE OF PASSION

25 years ago today, I woke up at the beautiful Asilomar Center on Monterey peninsula, sat up in bed and wondered if I had a birthday poem in me. This mindset was inspired by a man at the conference named Roy Jordan, who enthusiastically recited his poems at any moment, especially in the dining hall. The emergence of this poem opened a creative door I did not know I had, which still opens up sometimes – that unique, personal challenge of whether this feeling is asking me to let it flow, or wrestle it down, into words.

BK close1

BLAZE OF PASSION

I throb with the very stuff of Life,
pulse racing with the magic of the Universe.
My heart muscle tightens and releases
to ebb and flow with the miracle of now.

My eyes pierce the void with unshuttered brightness,
tossing sparks upon the tinder of my existence.
Visions of passions yet unknown
dance sinuously without a veil.

I propel myself into the fire of risk,
redefined with each hot breath.
Lungs fill with the Light of God,
exploding in spectrums of colors yet unseen.

My skin tingles with joy,
each pore grateful for the ecstasy of touch.
Ears capture the gentlest hum
of Love resounding in your heart.

Vibrations pure and soft and loud
call me out to play.
Music chameleons from sweet to strong,
ever dancing towards release.

I whirl with joy to all these tunes,
letting feet pound out
the rapture of me.

Journey with me if you dare,
sharing, blending
your unique self
as One with mine,
and let us go forth
together
to spark the infinite
with the blaze of passion.

Written 1991

Share

Blaise Kielar received Honorable Mention in the 2022 Alex Albright Creative Nonfiction Prize for an excerpt from his memoir in progress, "Be Heard: The Quiet Kid Who Started the World’s Loudest Violin Shop." He opened Chapel Hill’s first violin shop in 1978 and retired from a music retail career by transitioning Electric Violin Shop into the first worker-owned co-op music store in the United States. He plays jazz violin and clarinet in several bands and leads the Bulltown Strutters, Durham’s community New Orleans brass band.