Eldest and Youngest
by DW Rowlands
29 Jan 2019
Hyattsville, MD
Great Lady, who was born both first and last,
Who welcomes all to sit around her fire,
And hosts and feeds the small and great alike:
We praise you as we light our altar flames.
You came among us when, in ancient days,
We caught high Heaven’s fire in circled stones,
And tamed it just enough to cook our meals,
And guard us through the long savanna nights.
Although we wandered to the furthest shores,
Your fire burned wherever we made camp:
Our home was always there, close by your side,
Among the glaciers and the desert sands.
Today, within our walls of brick and steel,
We celebrate your birth each day anew,
As stoves and furnaces and bright-lit lamps
Still mark our homes around this settled world.