Crystal Fire. Poems of Joy & Wisdom

By Maja Trochimczyk and Ambika Talwar

Edited by Maja Trochimczyk, and illustrated with paintings by Ambika Talwar, the “Crystal Fire” anthology gathers poems of joy and wisdom by 12 poets, 8 women and 4 men: Elżbieta Czajkowska, Joe DeCenzo, Mary Elliott, Jeff Graham, Marlene Hitt, Frederick Livingston, Alice Pero, Allegra Silberstein, Jane Stuart, Ambika Talwar, Bory Thach, and Maja Trochimczyk. The poets span all ages and diverse life experiences. They include émigrés from Poland, Cambodia, and India, and those born in the U.S. College professors join community poets. Native speakers appear alongside those for whom English is the second, or even the third language. The ”joy and wisdom” they write about are also different, as each poet follows their own path and gathers unique reflections to share with their readers.The phrase of “Crystal Fire” may be seen as the symbol of all humanity, with each person born from the union of man and woman, the male and female DNA strands interlocking in ever new patterns to create human beings. In this phrase, "Crystal" stands for the feminine and “Fire” for the masculine. “Crystal” is peaceful, somewhat static, but well-constructed, stable, and growing slowly into perfection. It is the cosmos of order and being. Remember, only women give birth (though some want to construct artificial wombs and detach humanity from its roots). In contrast, "Fire" is dynamic, sometimes intensely dramatic, always changing, always transforming, constantly in the state of flux. It is the energy of change and growth. It is also destructive, demolishing solid structures of the past to make room for the new. “Fire” means destruction and becoming. It is pure chaos. The Universe arises from the dance of these twin forces, like yin and yang, but neither is pure darkness, negative and “evil” and neither is pure light, positive, and “good.” Instead, they are the ageless vortex of cosmic unity and chaos, of creation and destruction. There is no value assigned to this polarity, for such labels are limiting and deceptive. Both aspects are essential, each cannot exist without its twin. Both are good AND evil, both are positive AND negative. ”Good and positive” when coupled with the other. “Evil and negative” when alone. These are the polar opposites of stagnation and decline—or constant movement and the total destruction of all life. The feminine elements of "earth" and "water" endlessly dance with the masculine elements of “air” and “fire.”

• Language: English
• Publisher: Moonrise Press
• Release date: Sep 4, 2022
• ISBN: 9781945938597

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Crystal Fire

Poems of Joy & Wisdom

Edited by Maja Trochimczyk

Moonrise Press, 2022

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Copyright Information

Crystal Fire. Poems of Joy & Wisdom edited by Maja Trochimczyk is a book of poetry published by Moonrise Press. P.O. Box 4288, Los Angeles – Sunland, CA 91041-4288, www.moonrisepress.com.

© Copyright 2022 by Moonrise Press for this collection only. Authors retain copyright of their individual works. All Rights Reserved 2022 by Moonrise Press for this collection only. Cover design by Maja Trochimczyk, based on artwork by Ambika Talwar, Heavens Lake Diptych ~ Acrylic / 1994.

This volume includes poems by Elżbieta Czajkowska, Joe DeCenzo, Mary Elliott, Jeff Graham, Marlene Hitt, Frederick Livingston, Alice Pero, Allegra Silberstein, Jane Stuart, Ambika Talwar, Bory Thach, and Maja Trochimczyk.

No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Manufactured in the United States of America

The Library of Congress Publication Data:

Trochimczyk, Maja, 1957–, Editor; Elżbieta Czajkowska, Joe DeCenzo, Mary Elliott, Marlene Hitt, Jeff Graham, Frederick Livingston, Alice Pero, Allegra Silberstein, Jane Stuart, Ambika Talwar, Bory Thach, and Maja Trochimczyk, authors.

[Poems. English.]

Crystal Fire. Poems of Joy and Wisdom / Maja Trochimczyk, editor

188 pages (xii pp. prefatory matter, and 174 pp.); 6 in x 9 in. Written in English. With 14 paintings by Ambika Talwar, the authors’ biographic notes & portraits.

A picture containing background pattern Description automatically generated ISBN 978-1-945938-57-3 (color hardcover) ISBN 978-1-945938-58-0 (color paperback) ISBN 978-1-945938-59-7 (eBook)

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Preface

When shadows fell, it was time to shine. The worse and more absurd the news and events are, the more inclined I have been to write positive poetry—find shelter in my garden, watch ocean waves on an empty beach, play with kites in the hills. All alone. This period of seclusion has helped me find focus and inspiration for a book of my own, Bright Skies, dedicated to my children and grandchildren. I thought of a legacy to leave for them: the legacy of love and joy, the legacy of experience, the legacy of wisdom.

The same focus resulted in the idea of gathering poems of joy and wisdom from other poets for an anthology. Alas, my call for submissions did not result in an avalanche of poems. Not at all. Instead, I heard from some fine poet-friends that they found it very hard to write about light and love, and that their own poems were very dark, reflecting traumas and sorrows of their lives. But I also received sets of great poems that inspired me to change the book’s design. Instead of an anthology filled with single poems by many authors, I present a collection written by 12 poets, 8 women and 4 men, spanning all ages and diverse life experiences. Emigrés from Poland, Cambodia, and India, and those born in the

U.S. College professors join community poets. Native speakers appear alongside those for whom English is second, or even third language. The joy and wisdom they write about are also different, as each poet follows their own path and gathers unique reflections to share with their readers.

The title of this anthology comes from my poem The Year of Crystal Fire written at the end of a very long and convoluted love story that has a lot to do with the ancient Chinese legends of nine- tailed foxes. I placed this poem in the Babie Lato section of the Bright Skies book. This section contains poems about romantic love and wisdom that comes from loving someone, getting to know the beloved, and learning about love itself. I must admit that the pathway ascending from personal, romantic and erotic love to the universal love, the glue that holds the Universe together, has been my obsession since my first poetry book,

Miriam’s Iris, or Angels in the Garden, published in 2008. But I’m a slow learner, so my last words on the subject were written only in 2022! In any case, Babie Lato (lit. Woman’s Summer) is the Polish term for that magical period between summer and fall, when the light is golden, the air warm, and orchards full of fruit. This is the time of harvest, of ripening, of maturing. In English it is called Indian Summer, but this name does not fit my idea of gathering the fruit of insight from romance, so I kept the Polish term.

Initially, the title of this anthology was to be The Year of Crystal Fire, just like the poem, but why limit ourselves to just one year? The phrase of Crystal Fire may be seen as the symbol of all humanity, with each person born from the union of man and woman, the male and female DNA strands interlocking in ever new patterns to create human beings. In this phrase, Crystal stands for the feminine and Fire for the masculine. Crystal is peaceful, somewhat static, but well-constructed, stable, and growing slowly into perfection. It is the cosmos of order and being. Remember, only women give birth (though some want to construct artificial wombs and detach humanity from its roots). In contrast, Fire is dynamic, sometimes intensely dramatic, always changing, always transforming, constantly in the state of flux. It is the energy of change and growth. It is also destructive, demolishing solid structures of the past to make room for the new. Fire means destruction and becoming. It is pure chaos.

The Universe arises from the dance of these twin forces, like yin and yang, but neither is pure darkness, negative and evil and neither is pure light, positive, and good. Instead, they are the ageless vortex of cosmic unity and chaos, of creation and destruction. There is no value assigned to this polarity, for such labels are limiting and deceptive. Both aspects are essential, each cannot exist without its twin. Both are good AND evil, both are positive AND negative. Good and positive when coupled with the other. Evil and negative when alone. These are the polar opposites of stagnation and decline—or constant movement and the total destruction of all life. The feminine elements of earth and water endlessly dance with