The Divine Chain "Smoker"

​"Within my darkest night
You kindle a flame 
that never dies away
never dies away.” Taize

I hold my candle
before my eyes
that squint to
see through the
fog of aspiration
and pragmatism.

There in the 
not too distant 
future is a
marking, an
Ebenezer, the
shape of which
is firm and tall
even as the
words inscribed on 
it cannot be seen 
through the fog.

There is a next
step to be taken
illuminated by 
the flickering flame
that while shining
is also melting
the wax of my
dreams that
might be extinguished 
by the exhausted flame.

I wonder with
sincere anxiety,
should I find a place
to sit on the path
before the darkness?

Or should I keep 
moving blindly
feeling my way
toward the stone?

Then, suddenly
from the dark abyss
at flame's quivering end 
another candle is 
given, as if the
Divine was a cosmic 
chain smoker.

And once again
I go forward
step by step
hoping, as
my little candle
drips wax upon
the path that 
the universe 
will show up 
​when all vision fades
to light the way.

​TLC