the fire within by Thomas Zimmerman

the windswept night yawns wide so much like me

the cosmos weary of existence all

it seems gets broken on the wheel the tree 

that binds this world the blinding suns that fall

then rise then fall   //   the coasts recede the seas

devour as they swell unconsciousness 

ascendant human frailty on its knees

but worshiping a misplaced power   //   bless

the fire within the evermounting flame

the third eye open wide the living flesh 

we press in joy in need   //   the world we frame

revolves & is resolved forever fresh

in us so gaze at the horizon find 

the faintest star all fits inside the mind

---

Thomas Zimmerman (he/him/his) teaches English, directs the Writing Center, and edits The Big Windows Review https://thebigwindowsreview.com/ at Washtenaw Community College, in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA. His poems have appeared recently in Feed the Holy, Pulsebeat Poetry Journal, and Soul Poetry. His latest poetry book is My Night to Cook (Cyberwit, 2024).