Alloyed
For “It’s Up to Me, AZ: A Day of Civic Action”
by Regina Blakely
Suppose we let go of our gentle Promise:
What remains?
Say we loosen our grip on that shining future,
and commit, instead, to a kind of freefall -
and the furious tumble into this moment:
hot gusts across inhospitable ground,
an exacting meeting with this scorched place
with its fuming people, for centuries now
wresting “mine” from “yours.”
Forget for a moment the brilliant star
that led you here or compelled you to stay.
Beneath that sun, this ground is burning
and you had best prepare yourself
to meet the sudden realities of gravity
Here.
Now.
Where everything comes to light:
How will you hold yourself in this conversation
between the open space of possibility
and our landing together in this geography?
Are you one who folds and rolls with the times?
Does it take a bruising to link you to others?
Maybe this place is your meeting with destiny.
This much is known: A certain fire lives in us all.
Your fierceness to burn yours brought you here
in the presence of others with that same yearning,
with those who believe in the heat of something
who’ve been shaping the metal that they were born with
in the ardor of their hearts’ flames. Yet we
have forged little to hold this community.
And you sense this: “It’s Up to Me, AZ.”
So–how can you make of yourself a sun,
a force and source of waking to others?
First, be constant, and bright:
Lend your light some question that matters.
In this safe container of conversation, hold your fire.
Speak the small truth that sparks on the flint of your heart.
From each flame that rises, draw the sweeter scent
of a sage civility. Remember, above all,
our shared vulnerability.
Stay awake.
As our anger cools into glowing embers,
let’s sift together for what we remember
as burning insights. Then maybe -
maybe we’ll find
that our metal, combined, is made more refined
and shining – something to build with,
stronger than before.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.
We grant permission to copy, adapt, and distribute Alloyed, by print or electronic means, provided that you:
Acknowledge the source of the material as follows: “Reprinted by permission of Regina Blakely with Collaborative Spark at www.collaborativespark.com.”
Some conversation guidelines within Alloyed are remixed with permission of The World Café Community Foundation at www.theworldcafe.com.