Good weight

I am used to being
a bit of a bumpy road.
I still get a little caught
between stones I used to roll
and rocks I've found.
I've learned the keepers
are the solid ones
that fit well in pockets,
slide down neatly into creases,
keep flaps from flying
when life gets floppy,
reminders of certain comfort found
in the reliability of
the perfect attendance
of gravity.

- maureen dolan

Go into the Fire

Bask in this,
grow inside it,
breathe the sparks,
choke on smoke
as sweat on sorrow dissipates,
rising like steam,
carrying these volcanic ashy bits
homeward toward the sun.

Go into the fire
to find a right
inside a wrong.

The pay-off is the lift-off,
the resurrection,
redirection of energy,
this new convergence of fresh,
combustible humanity
that is me.

- maureen dolan