Surrounded by women’s laughter and conversation, easy sharing and ready smiles,
I look down at my hands, awash with bubbles, floating the in the effervescence,
Skin still slightly tanned amid the whitely foaming water, poised on the surface,
Surfing the interface between chill wind and steaming liquid.
My body is being clasped, held buoyantly in this embrace.
My heart is being clasped, community holding me in a warmth
That reaches right down to my bones.
Here life is breathed into a spark I have carried these many moons.
Through wax and wane I have carried it, never knowing in the dimness
Of the shelter of my heart, how faint its light had grown.
Suddenly, like a gift of grace:
Light rekindled.