Subj : [CHRISTIA] new poetry, "With Canopies Keeping" To : Practical Christian Life From : Mark Date : Sun Jun 14 2020 12:57:45 From: lamppoet@CENTURYTEL.NET (Mark) Just a little light makes so much difference. "With Canopies Keeping" ("If then your body is full of light, with no part of it dark, it will be as full of light as when a lamp gives you light with its gleam." Luke 11:36) And in the forest with canopies keeping the furled smoke of a hundred distant campfires just above our heads, the gray shadows and crackling soot divided the aspen boulevards and made addresses hard to locate nearing the last light of day. There was no fear, no threat, all was contained except the misguided insistence that kept many from finding the ring of friends sharing stories and passing songs late. The smoke stayed well past sunset, and the whole forest was the same tuxedo black of the shadows just hours before. But in that heaviness of night forest air is the sweet breath of pine scent and summer smoke. And though late among the upright stands the night itself seems to reign, the evidences of life are magnified; a crackling twig or a hoot owl's call are french horn and percussion close by. And in the darkening night that might turn another away, the campfires, like lighthouses among the woods, catch the wanderers' eyes and lead them by human voice and eventual affection. Every circle with friends and new ones warming, is not simply an invention, but evidence of redemption; a fire and a song with a final arc of friendship to wanderers in the night. Warming, mark p. lamppoet@centurytel.net Mark's Blog (to be removed from the list, simply reply with the request: "Please remove". God's best!) For subscription information, visit To leave the list, send the command UNSUB CHRISTIA to LISTSERV@LISTS.ASU.EDU --- NewsGate v1.0 gamma 2 * Origin: News Gate @ Net396 -Huntsville, AL - USA (1:396/4) .