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The Hearth

Posted by Erin Riordan | Mar 24, 2025 | Poetry | 1 |

The Hearth

Build a hearth
around the embers
of your longing

Adorn the hearth
with dry leaves
and fresh blossoms

The augurs of the hawk bless you.
She cries over a blustery sky.

Blow on the embers gently.
Now it turns to flame.

Circle the flame in stones.
Each stone is a memory
From those who came before.

Fire and stone depend on each other.

The hearth is the wound
whose emptiness teaches love.

So many travelers search for this place.
Staggering drunkenly
mouths full of certainties.

Here, the cities are burning.
Here, the embers flicker and are gone.

Place a stone
as a prayer for the future ones.

Speak one true word.

The world is reborn
in each hearth well-tended.

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About The Author

Erin Riordan

Erin Riordan

Erin studied creative writing at Marlboro College and practiced Zen Buddhism at the San Francisco Zen Center. Her writing articulates intersections between the felt human experience and place. She sees writing as a life-affirming practice, affirming the mysterious wildness of being human, language and land.

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1 Comment

  1. Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer
    Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer on March 28, 2025 at 5:04 pm

    Oh that is is. Just one true word can change every single thing about how we meet the world.

    Reply

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The Braided Way is a framework to see every faith tradition as a strand, braided into a larger whole of spiritual awareness. In the Braided Way, combining spiritual practice from various faiths allow us to explore sacred experience and wonder in forms that resonate with our personal spiritual needs and sacred intuitions. In today’s culture, many people shun religious dogma, but yearn for spiritual connection. The Braided Way allows the ceremonies and practices of multiple faiths to be available without the confinements of cultural dogma.

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