We need all the light right now.
Because it has been dark for so long.

We need all the light right now.
Because the light illuminates.

We need all the light right now.
Because the work is hard, hard, hard.

We need all the light right now.
I want candles, lots and lots of candles, so many candles.

We need all the light right now.
Because lighting the sabbath candles provides sanctuary for our souls.

We need all the light right now
Because I’m tired of working in darkness. I want to see what I’ve created.

We need all the light right now.
Because with light, we can see each other. We can begin to take action, create new forms of connection.

We need all the light right now.
Because light is holy, just as darkness is holy, but in a different way.

We need all the light right now.
One time, god so loved the world, that she contracted herself into a tiny ball
to make room for us. Then she exploded, and the light from that shattering entered our souls.

We need all the light right now.
Dawn. Sunshine. Emergence. Renewal. Starlight. I’m calling on all of you to show up.

We need all the light right now.
Every fucking bit of it.

We need all the light right now.
But only the kind that’s renewable. That shows up in the
sun’s warmth or the glow of a lightning bug. No artificial light right now.

We need all the light right now.
So we can sit in the fire’s glow and see and feel the warmth and humanity
in each other’s eyes.

We need all the light right now.
And the time to linger, to converse, to find a new path through the darkness.

The Prompt:

From: Room to Write: Daily Invitations to a Writer’s Life, by Bonni Goldberg.
“Choose a phrase and write it down 50 times. Don’t shortchange yourself by doing fewer than fifty. Each time, respond to the phrase in one or two sentences or phrases before the next repetition. Work quickly without stopping to think. Anything goes. When you’re finished, notice which responses feel surprising, dangerous, charged. What poems, stories, or songs can begin from these strands?”