Something Fiercer

If the fire inside you
is nothing but anger,
you haven't really begun
to burn.
Rage is just kindling.
Transmute it into something
fiercer and more sweet,
not by struggle and resistance,
nor gathering blood red grief poppies
with their motherload of dreams
for the dying,
but a plunge beyond hope, a Way
that bursts open when you
water it with loss.
Let your fallen body
strike a spark against
the very darkness.
Then you can sing.

(Painting: Orpheus and Eurydice
by George Frederick Watts)