Lumine is a poem about inner light, shadows and the uncontrollable forces of death and life. In two poems born from different sources of incandescence. A candle and a fireplace lit in an Austrian mountain chalet sparked connection, while an early sun casting its rays from behind a cloud, restlessly flicking on the vast water surface of the Pacific ocean, stirred powerful emotions of chaotic uncertainty needed for creativity in that very focused moment during the budding pandemic.

St Moritz lake

Lumine is beyond heat, you see it when cold and it comes from the inside

Luminescence is “the emission of light not caused by incandescence and occurring at a temperature below that of incandescent bodies“. Candle or the sun are incandescent bodies. Since in our mind anything is possible, these poems illustrate the power of imagination. From a heat source of light can spark the bright luminescence of human creativity (our bodies’ temperature is well below the visible ignition point). As in music, that spark lights up emotions. In poetry, the soul of the poet is transcribed into words, in painting the visual energy of colours and shades, or in the shapes and materials used to form a sculpture, there is luminescence.

Fireplace in the Alps

LUMINE OF TRUTH

Fear, like an ocean stream

Floods the shores of my heart

My throat tightens in your gripping zeal

Paralysing emotions, an ordeal 

Stamped on all human lies

 

The sunlight walking on the water

Illuminates days with honesty and hope

Only moving clouds cover its warming love

Their shield like night protects from naivety

For a dead, drenched stomp is nothing but a piety 

—

Yet, sometimes a good lie 

has the power to heal, 

if you believe in it.

~Joy

Mediterranean

Such moments of engagement in a temporary enlightenment stirred by light transcend the invisible, unconscious in incandescence to luminescence. There is a potential to transcend darkness. One’s awareness of such a fleeting, visual treasure as the shape of light, changing within seconds in the measure of time, charms the mind with simple beauty of existence while tapping on the reality of change.

Our perception of natural change is palpable only because we live. In a few moments it is gone.

The momentous reality of a lifespan – shorter for some species like flies, longer for humans and even more expansive for trees – shall erase our modern focus on future. We must plan and be responsible by saving resources for more restraining times that surely will come, yet we must find joy here and now. Nothing else matters, as Hans Ulrich signs with his Danish band Metallica.

Scandinavian art

Illuminating art at Thielska Gallery in Stockholm

LUMINE OF AWARENESS

The candle light in my room

Is my mind in a flowing bloom

Focused, steady fire of existence

Yet, it moves

Like the mind shifting its cadence

Letting in the wind of ignorance

 

The candle light in my room

The knot goes on, a burning doom

The wax of thoughts

Even the presence moves

My upper chamber of distracting moods

The monkey is restless — questioning odds

Until its mind lasts and then rots

 

The candle light in my room

My will is stronger

The spark of inner light

Learning of my own melting anger

Its energy depleted, me fully living

I know that my strength is not to be a tool

—

Liberated from the chains of my emotions,

I am a luminous beetle at night.

~Joy

lumine

Lumine: life connected with and enjoyed mindfully

Feel the candle, a fire or the sun’s rays warming your skin, savour the pleasant moment that only you can continue or stop. Now you have the choice to make. The candle in the night is your calm state of mind that you can create by will to let go of anything you do not need. The emotions burdening you deep within can be brought to awareness and like the smoke from the candle rise up.

Imagine that you walk on the light reflecting on the sea or the floor in front of you. Stride on the lake’s surface, dip your toes into the light. Almost — like the desire of experiencing something magical, the proximity of that achievement in itself feels wonderful. Although we cannot realistically reach this mirage of light in flight, and it does not matter, we can create a moment with our own imagination that feels luminously great. Listen to what it says and then act, to clear that karma in the dark nest of your consciousness. We all accumulate it. One can deny it even through a smile. What looks like a bubbly, happy person, may well be a troubled being.

modern gas fire

The only forces that stop this fleeting creation walking away from us are the restless mind and time. The later, flowing away with the day is something we cannot change, but accept. Yes, we can. Dip the mind into restful, mindful presence.

If you want to channel out your fire energy, I recommend to listen to Lumine, a powerful song composed by Barry Richard Goldstein. It stirred these poems in me.

I also mused about the power of light in our everyday life and art, and published a poem on light earlier. Both were inspired by the current urgent need for positive energy. We live in a strange time, airlines grounded, theatres and restaurants closed, beaches sealed off, concerts cancelled and any group gatherings discouraged. Social isolation may feel dark, even depressive for some vulnerable individuals. Wine does not plaster over the feeling for a long time, beware.

Globally, we need the spark from human creativity now more than ever since the gloom of the World Wars. And worse may yet to come. Hope and connecting with others intimately make reality easier to bear.