Another of John’s beautiful poems.
How have you made me?
Say not, “With wax and wick and a taper trimmed.”
For I am light and I am heat,
I am an evening spent all alone
befriended by the memory of a scent.
And I am undone.
Your bright flame in my dark night
has unmade me, and in unmaking me,
has made me.
I, something, was nothing.
in becoming nothing, something, my essence,
to burn for you…
Some would call this sacrifice. Not me.
I am fascinated by the concept that true sacrifice—sacrifice made out of love—returns more than it gives up. The inspiration for the poem was a quotation of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Head of the Bahá’í Faith for many years. The full text is here, from which I took this quote:
“…ye must die to yourselves and to the world, so shall ye be born again and enter the Kingdom of Heaven…
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Blogs by Bahais 
August 7, 2014 at 12:42 pm
June, you are very kind to re-blog this and I am very grateful for you bringing it back to mind to me. It was, in fact, the favorite poem of a good friend who has since moved away and reading this reminded me of how much I miss him. Thank you very much, again, for your support and appreciation.
August 8, 2014 at 5:36 am
You’re welcome and thanks for reading the other blogs here.
August 12, 2014 at 11:24 pm
I have many poem portraits that remind me of people I miss.