Incense and Poetry... and ash

I've been burning a little incense lately. You know, in those little cones? Pumpkin spice. mmm.. Smells like Autumn. :)

So no, it's not for use in some Eastern ritual (or even a Western one.) I've always enjoyed fragrances of all sorts, from food cooking in the kitchen to perfume on a pretty neck (or.. elsewhere!), from fresh-cut hay to a lit match (but, um.. not both of those at the same time!)

In my search for joy in the small areas of life.. scent is a part of it. :)

Catholics are supposed to use incense in worship, or at least that's what I've heard. Some special services do, and some parishes do, I guess. But none for me yet. :( So I got some from a Catholic bookstore the other day. Mmmm... I wish they would use it more!

This stuff is resin incense and you burn it on a miniature piece of charcoal in a special burner (or in a cheap glass dish like me.) Smells great, but it leaves lots of ash to clean up. Much like sticks and cones do, but not as tidy. Even after all the smoke is gone and the scent has faded.. the ash is there to remind you that you burned it.

That put me in mind of a quote I have sitting on a stickie on my Mac desktop. A few years ago J1 sent me a quote about poetry that she thought I'd like (and I did). And I wrote her a poem in response:



"Poetry is the evidence of life. If your life is burning well, poetry is just the ash."

-- Leonard Cohen



The body goes to ashes
The outer shell to dust,
The inner life to poetry -
Life incendiary must!

-- Me :)



So whether up or down, good or bad, happy or sad.. all I can say is: "burn, baby, burn!" :) Think it all, feel it all.. go, go, go!

I think one of the reasons I write so much, and have done so many interesting things in life (and have done so many of them publicly - enough to get a reputation wherever I live as.. eccentric? quirky? different?), is that I'd like to leave a great big pile of ash to clean up when I'm gone.. just so people remember that I lived - right out loud!

And I don't mean just the ashes in that little urn they put you in, either. ;) I've enjoyed spreading some of my life-ash around while I'm alive, too - a little pile here in this place, a nice big one here with this person, quite a lot here with this group of people..

Because, over time, the scent of my life fades from theirs. But if I can leave some ash behind.. visuals, tangibles.. maybe they'll remember. And laugh.. or cry..

So keep it lit, old man! You've only got the one life, right? I mean, why hold back now?