That Blue Flame: A Haibun Plea

“Never turn that off!” she used to say. So, I never did. But I used to stare at it, that blue flame, treated so delicately and spoken of as if it were eternal. The stove was large, white, and wore a few rust spots here and there. The burner’s burn lit the room at night. It stayed on whether anyone was home or not, always there…a given, a staple, trusted.

O Spirit, be that Blue Flame

burning within me.

Never extinguished. Constant.