day THREE HUNDRED and FOURTEEN

Post Script
(after Kristen Kalp)

Shake out the match once the wick is lit:
no reward comes from fingers burnt, so
when it all falls apart, let it.

A pearl begins as a speck of grit,
but unlike a fire, its way is slow.
Quickly! Shake out the match once the wick is lit.

Buildings will crumble, the earth will split,
from ash is where the new things grow;
so when it all falls apart, let it.

Feel the jangle in your golden bracelet
as you give the candle its turn to glow -
remember to shake out the match once the wick is lit -

then watch this tiny flame, a parapet
that will tumble with its wax castle below:
when it all falls apart, let it.

See the new way the old pieces fit
when you let their old way of being go.
Shake out the match once the wick is lit,
and when it all falls apart, let it.

--Kerrilee Hunter