Heat Sources

I am fairly certain it is true

that all light sources must emit some heat.

That if you cup your hands around an amber street lamp

--even on the darkest, coldest night--

circulation will always return to your fingers,

turning them red and fat with relief and embarrassment

at their inability to warm themselves.

That if you stretch your arms deep into a sunrise

--even the last pale pink dregs--

its energy must radiate through your body,

exciting every cell, every molecule,

until your nerve endings him with readiness for a new start.

That if you wrap the glow of distant hones around you

--even windows you've never looked through, doors you've never opened--

and shroud yourself in unfamiliar orange,

it must penetrate to your bones,

softening them until they are ready to be held.

I am fairly certain it is true

that heat and light cannot exist without the other,

that our bodies give heat and thus light.

That and accidental brush of the cheek

can spark a million fires.

That the memory of a smile

can burn for a thousand years.

That a hand to hold

is worth more than a hundred furnaces.