At the turn of the century before the last one, a woman named Edna St. Vincent Malay wrote a book of poetry called “A Few Figs From Thistles.” The very title explains what the poems were about – finding some good in hard times when all you can do is trust that somehow you were going to get through all that life has thrown at you. She was an unconventional activist and feminist at a time when being someone like that was even more difficult than it is today.
One of her poems that I have always remembered over my lifetime was this one below:
“My candle burns at both ends;
It will not last the night;
But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends—
It gives a lovely light!”
― Edna St. Vincent Millay, A Few Figs from Thistles
Each day that goes by right now, I understand the depth of understanding she truly possessed.