Joe Stanek says he’s just an average fellow that loves and works on the hill. ‘I thought I’d attempt to share some words, a poem, that came to me last night amidst the tragedy that we are experiencing,” he said. Courtesy image
BY JOE STANEK
Los Alamos
Houses
My breath is but a candle light
the in and the out
of the light and the darkness
Yet taken for granted
for measure by measure
If the eye is the window
then the lung is the house
But in a house is a ceiling and a floor
And if candles are people
they are locked in their houses
And many candles have gone out of them
Houses with mantles and candles gone out
While others grow dim
Let the lighted breath continue to burn
in remembrance of those no longer breathing
And houses untouched
give honor
to those touched
And have empathy, compassion,
and sorrow and tears
And let the breath of our light continue to shine
into the darkness for those
flames now gone out
My flame flickers
by their breath now gone out
and they whisper to us
Live
As our houses are shaking
As our windows are wet
From here till tomorrow
We’ll not soon forget
To do better
To awaken
To change
To graduate
And apply the lessons
and to ask the questions
And to wonder
Why