Curtain billows in wind.
Candlelight flickers,
flame shivers, dips,
almost snuffed out.
Metaphorical
for our predicament,
but a gentler scene.
Healthcare systems threatened.
Tsunami of violence,
hatred, inequities.
We cup our hands
around the flame of hope,
trying to protect it
through these storms.
It’s Quadrille Monday at dVerse, the virtual pub for poets around the globe. Today we’re to include the word “shiver” or a form of the word (not a synonym) in our poem of exactly 44 words, sans title. Pub opens at 3 PM, Boston time. Come join us!
* A derecho is a wide-spread, long lived, dangerous windstorm.
lillian the home poet 
I liked the topical take. 🙂
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So glad you enjoyed!
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🙂
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I like the metaphor of that candle we need to protect.. the wind is for sure blowing hard.
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These days, it sure is!
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I love this Lillian. Indeed, protecting hope is so vital.
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It’s brave at least to try.
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Lots of loveéy little movements in the first stanza, and brought home in the second…very well done…
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Your metaphors are apt for the current climate and political situation. I wonder if we’re in the eye of the storm now.
I wrote in a similar vein earlier today.
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Lillian I think there are a lot of us with our “hands cupped around the flame of hope” these days. It’s a powerful image to rally around.
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a very appropriate title for our current situation, well described in your verse Lillian!
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A great image of cupped hands around the flame Lillian.
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Yes! With cupped hands against the storms.
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Love that flame-protection imagery, Lillian. Everything’s so vulnerable these days, eh?
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We join you with offering those hands
around the flame of hope. Hope its not too bad!
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Beautifully done.. hope… we all need it and need to protect it.. my hands are cupped
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I like the metaphor you use in this poem. Well written poem.
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Yes, indeed. A truthful vision of our current state. May our hands hold firm until gentler breezes blow.
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Too many overwhelming storms are swirling out of control. It’s almost too much to bear. We must keep that flame of hope lit until the storms die down.
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“We cup our hands
around the flame of hope,
trying to protect it
through these storms.”
I feel like I am doing just this as I work to support children and teachers each day.
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An effective articulation of the times with the imagery of cupping hands to protect the precious flame. We must never lose hope.
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We sure need to keep the candle of hope burning! Love this, Lillian.
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Yep,we need to have hope,and we can wend our way through this pandemic. Great poem 🙂
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Oh, Lillian… were it not so…
😦
David
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Well said. We must all do what we can to keep the flame.
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I think that flame of hope is worth protecting, Lillian: well said!
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What a beautiful image of protecting something so fragile and vulnerable, yet so powerful if it thrives, and spreads.
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A delicate situation, a tenuous flame, a raging wind, the shivering flame still there, a palpable tension.
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“We cup our hands
around the flame of hope”
Yes. May it never go out.
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Keep that flame burning.
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Reblogged this on poetryprayersandsermons310431314.wordpress.com.
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