Still a Fire Burns - Beverly Koepplin

In the shorter days of November

a fire still burns.

Our sun still glows

with its life-giving light.

A butterfly still sways and dips

and a hummingbird drinks from the last rose.

In the darker days of November,

days made dark out of time,

a fire still burns

to light our way on roads of despair,

to guide us on paths strange and twisted,

and to give us hope when there is little to be had.

In the cooler days of November

a fire still burns

in the deepest part of our hearts,

to keep everything good and true in the light

to keep the righteous out of the dark,

and to keep warm and glowing the spirit of life.

In these days of November

a fire still burns,

to temper the steel in our spines,

to warn our enemies away,

and to burnish the armor we don

to guard our fire and keep it ever burning, ever near.

                                                      ***