Balticon 2015

In the almost stillness

Of the perfect afternoon

I contemplate the paths we have traveled

To this place where dreams are born

Where ideas are sparked

From the flint of community

And the trick is to both shelter that ember

From the sad fate of a quiet death

At the hands of Doubt

Or Insecurity

And breathe life into it

So that it becomes a flame

That burns bright enough

To survive, to grow, to thrive

Into a life of its own

Without getting burned

In the process

It is these moments of stillness

And these contemplations

That I realize that we are each

One of those sparks

Raw embers in desperate need

Of that breath of life

That sometimes can only come from another

A form of creative cross-pollination

Imbueing a confidence

A sense of purpose

So very different from

What we attain alone