When the human heart stops

When the human heart stops                                                                         

Maybe it all comes down

to the difference between noun

and past participle,

when the human heart stops

wanting to be loved

and starts wanting to be love –

the flame itself, the origin and receptacle.

So much mischief in that one consonant

like the hair’s breadth of Buddhism

or the difference in capitalization – self v. Self

or Saint Francis

barefoot in the snow,

the flame feeding upon everything

until there is only flame, only love.

O child of God, prod and stoke the crumbling fire

of your bitter, hard, tenacious self.