--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The life spills over, some days. She…" description: "\"“The life spills over, some days. She cannot be at rest, Wishes she could explode Like that red tree— The one that bursts into fire All this week. Sens..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e0/alicia-ostriker-34582_fiery_the-life-spills-over-some-days-she-canno_1048593.jpg" --- # The life spills over, some days. She cannot be at rest… ![“The life spills over, some days. She cannot be at rest, Wishes she could explode Like that red tree— The one that bursts into fire All this week. Senses her infinite smallness But can’t seize it, Recognizes the folly of desire, The folly of withdrawal— Kicks at the curb, the pavement, If only she…” quote by Alicia Ostriker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e0/alicia-ostriker-34582_fiery_the-life-spills-over-some-days-she-canno_1048593.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e0/alicia-ostriker-34582_fiery_the-life-spills-over-some-days-she-canno_1048593.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e0/alicia-ostriker-34582_fiery_the-life-spills-over-some-days-she-canno_1048593.jpg) > ““The life spills over, some days. She cannot be at rest, Wishes she could explode Like that red tree— The one that bursts into fire All this week. Senses her infinite smallness But can’t seize it, Recognizes the folly of desire, The folly of withdrawal— Kicks at the curb, the pavement, If only she could, at this moment, When what she’s doing is plodding To the bus stop, to go to school, Passing that fiery tree—if only she could Be making love, Be making a painting, Be exploding, be speeding through the universe Like a photon, like a shower Of yellow flames— She believes if she could only catch up With the riding rhythm of things, of her own electrons, Then she would be at rest— If she could forget school, Climb the tree, Be the tree, burn like that.”” [Alicia Ostriker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alicia-ostriker/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The poet longs to merge with fiery energy, feeling trapped by routine and yearning for creative explosion. **In simple terms:** She wants to break free and become the fire. Key Takeaway Embrace spontaneity over monotony. Themes creativity longing restlessness Mood introspective passionate Type poetic philosophical When to use this quote - daily routine - art creation - personal reflection - self‑actualization Key Concepts existential desire artistic expression Questions to Reflect On - What stifles your creative spark? - How can routine coexist with passion? A Different Perspective May idealize chaos without practical path. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Fiery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiery/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) ## Related quotes > [“Passing that fiery tree-if only she could; Be making love, Be making poetry, Be exploding, be speeding through the universe; Like a photon, like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alicia-ostriker/passing-that-fiery-tree-if-only-she-could-be-making-love-be-making/) [Alicia Ostriker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alicia-ostriker/) > [What is laid down, ordered, factual is never enough to embrace the whole truth: life always spills over the rim of every cup.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-pasternak/what-is-laid-down-ordered-factual-is-never-enough-to-embrace-the/) [Boris Pasternak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-pasternak/) > [Fiery and sweet, all at the same time. A flame in the dark, lighting my way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richelle-mead/fiery-and-sweet-all-at-the-same-time-a-flame-in-the-dark-lighting-my/) [Richelle Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richelle-mead/) > [“She consumes me with her eyes, her fiery touch, and the ways in which she loves me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-h-snyder/she-consumes-me-with-her-eyes-her-fiery-touch-and-the-ways-in-which/) [T.H. Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-h-snyder/) > [Then with no throbs of fiery pain, No cold gradations of decay, Death broke at once the vital chain, And freed his soul the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/then-with-no-throbs-of-fiery-pain-no-cold-gradations-of-decay-death/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [“You coming?" She hesitated, weighing her options. Risk running back down the flaming aisles to find another exit? Or trust the guy who'd been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jena-leigh/you-coming-she-hesitated-weighing-her-options-risk-running-back-down/) [Jena Leigh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jena-leigh/) > [“He was hard and tough and wiry - just the sort that won't say die - There was courage in his quick impatient tread;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-b-paterson/he-was-hard-and-tough-and-wiry-just-the-sort-that-won-t-say-die-there/) A.B. Paterson > [To clothe the fiery thought In simple words succeeds, For still the craft of genius is To mask a king in weeds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/to-clothe-the-fiery-thought-in-simple-words-succeeds-for-still-the/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [They fought as they revelled, fast, fiery, and true, And, though victors, they left on the field not a few; And they who survived…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-davis/they-fought-as-they-revelled-fast-fiery-and-true-and-though-victors/) [Thomas Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-davis/) > [Growing up in Jamaica, the Pentecostal church wasn't that fiery thing you might think. It was very British, very proper. Hymns. No dancing. Very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-jones/growing-up-in-jamaica-the-pentecostal-church-wasn-t-that-fiery-thing/) [Grace Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-jones/) > [A fiery, good beginner always stands higher than a master in mediocrity...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-schumann/a-fiery-good-beginner-always-stands-higher-than-a-master-in-mediocrity/) [Robert Schumann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-schumann/) > [I'm super fiery. I'm a go-getter. No matter what, I'm relentless at what I do so I feel like that shines through.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eva-marie/i-m-super-fiery-i-m-a-go-getter-no-matter-what-i-m-relentless-at-what/) [Eva Marie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eva-marie/) > [Hell is a swamp, to me - not as something fiery, but as something dank, moist, and wet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/avey-tare/hell-is-a-swamp-to-me-not-as-something-fiery-but-as-something-dank/) [Avey Tare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/avey-tare/) > [These fiery trials are designed to make you stronger, but they have the potential to diminish or even destroy your trust in the Son…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-l-andersen/these-fiery-trials-are-designed-to-make-you-stronger-but-they-have/) [Neil L. Andersen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-l-andersen/) > [Deep in the shady sadness of a vale Far sunken from the healthy breath of morn, Far from the fiery noon and eve's one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-keats/deep-in-the-shady-sadness-of-a-vale-far-sunken-from-the-healthy/) [John Keats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-keats/) ## More by Alicia Ostriker > [The writer who is a mother should, I think, record everything she can: make notes, keep journals, take photographs, use a tape recorder, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alicia-ostriker/the-writer-who-is-a-mother-should-i-think-record-everything-she-can/) [Alicia Ostriker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alicia-ostriker/) > [“With women poets we look at or into, but not up at, sacred things; we unlearn submission.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alicia-ostriker/with-women-poets-we-look-at-or-into-but-not-up-at-sacred-things-we/) [Alicia Ostriker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alicia-ostriker/) > [“To Wallace Stevens' post-Nietzschean formula 'God and the imagination are one,' these women poets would add a crucial third element: God and the imagination…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alicia-ostriker/to-wallace-stevens-post-nietzschean-formula-god-and-the-imagination/) [Alicia Ostriker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alicia-ostriker/) > [“The appropriation of the creativity-procreativity metaphor by women is a conscious challenge to traditional poetics and beyond that to traditional metaphysics, for the gynocentric…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alicia-ostriker/the-appropriation-of-the-creativity-procreativity-metaphor-by-women/) [Alicia Ostriker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alicia-ostriker/) > [I have wished you dead and myself dead. How could it be otherwise. I have broken into you like a burglar. And you've set…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alicia-ostriker/i-have-wished-you-dead-and-myself-dead-how-could-it-be-otherwise-i/) [Alicia Ostriker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alicia-ostriker/) > [“The mind is a leaf pile where you can bury anything…”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alicia-ostriker/the-mind-is-a-leaf-pile-where-you-can-bury-anything/) [Alicia Ostriker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alicia-ostriker/) > [“Wanting All Husband, it's fine the way your mind performs Like a circus, sharp As a sword somebody has To swallow, rough as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alicia-ostriker/wanting-all-husband-it-s-fine-the-way-your-mind-performs-like-a/) [Alicia Ostriker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alicia-ostriker/) > [Anyway, what is the soul but a dream of itself?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alicia-ostriker/anyway-what-is-the-soul-but-a-dream-of-itself/) [Alicia Ostriker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alicia-ostriker/) > [The work of Jana Harris is unique in American writing. She has always had a voice of true grit—sometimes harsh, sometimes funny, always close…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alicia-ostriker/the-work-of-jana-harris-is-unique-in-american-writing-she-has-always/) [Alicia Ostriker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alicia-ostriker/) > [I love the combination of smartness, pain, and what one might call conscious postmodern trashiness in this book: a version of the erotic full…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alicia-ostriker/i-love-the-combination-of-smartness-pain-and-what-one-might-call/) [Alicia Ostriker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alicia-ostriker/) > [Art destroys silence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alicia-ostriker/art-destroys-silence/) [Alicia Ostriker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alicia-ostriker/) > [“The secret shape of this book is a parachute all the lines leading to the person hanging there drifting on the wind and always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alicia-ostriker/the-secret-shape-of-this-book-is-a-parachute-all-the-lines-leading-to/) [Alicia Ostriker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alicia-ostriker/) > [“Passing that fiery tree-if only she could; Be making love, Be making poetry, Be exploding, be speeding through the universe; Like a photon, like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alicia-ostriker/passing-that-fiery-tree-if-only-she-could-be-making-love-be-making/) [Alicia Ostriker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alicia-ostriker/) [Explore all 14 Alicia Ostriker quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alicia-ostriker/) ## More Fiery quotes > [Deep in the shady sadness of a vale Far sunken from the healthy breath of morn, Far from the fiery noon and eve's one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-keats/deep-in-the-shady-sadness-of-a-vale-far-sunken-from-the-healthy/) [John Keats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-keats/) > [These fiery trials are designed to make you stronger, but they have the potential to diminish or even destroy your trust in the Son…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-l-andersen/these-fiery-trials-are-designed-to-make-you-stronger-but-they-have/) [Neil L. Andersen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-l-andersen/) > [Hell is a swamp, to me - not as something fiery, but as something dank, moist, and wet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/avey-tare/hell-is-a-swamp-to-me-not-as-something-fiery-but-as-something-dank/) [Avey Tare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/avey-tare/) > [I'm super fiery. I'm a go-getter. No matter what, I'm relentless at what I do so I feel like that shines through.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eva-marie/i-m-super-fiery-i-m-a-go-getter-no-matter-what-i-m-relentless-at-what/) [Eva Marie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eva-marie/) > [A fiery, good beginner always stands higher than a master in mediocrity...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-schumann/a-fiery-good-beginner-always-stands-higher-than-a-master-in-mediocrity/) [Robert Schumann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-schumann/) > [Growing up in Jamaica, the Pentecostal church wasn't that fiery thing you might think. It was very British, very proper. Hymns. No dancing. Very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-jones/growing-up-in-jamaica-the-pentecostal-church-wasn-t-that-fiery-thing/) [Grace Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-jones/) > [They fought as they revelled, fast, fiery, and true, And, though victors, they left on the field not a few; And they who survived…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-davis/they-fought-as-they-revelled-fast-fiery-and-true-and-though-victors/) [Thomas Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-davis/) > [To clothe the fiery thought In simple words succeeds, For still the craft of genius is To mask a king in weeds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/to-clothe-the-fiery-thought-in-simple-words-succeeds-for-still-the/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“He was hard and tough and wiry - just the sort that won't say die - There was courage in his quick impatient tread;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-b-paterson/he-was-hard-and-tough-and-wiry-just-the-sort-that-won-t-say-die-there/) A.B. Paterson > [“You coming?" She hesitated, weighing her options. Risk running back down the flaming aisles to find another exit? Or trust the guy who'd been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jena-leigh/you-coming-she-hesitated-weighing-her-options-risk-running-back-down/) [Jena Leigh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jena-leigh/) > [Then with no throbs of fiery pain, No cold gradations of decay, Death broke at once the vital chain, And freed his soul the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/then-with-no-throbs-of-fiery-pain-no-cold-gradations-of-decay-death/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [“She consumes me with her eyes, her fiery touch, and the ways in which she loves me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-h-snyder/she-consumes-me-with-her-eyes-her-fiery-touch-and-the-ways-in-which/) [T.H. Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-h-snyder/) > [“What were you doing with her?” The words burst from my lips. Before I can take them back, he stares at me. I stare…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-jayne/what-were-you-doing-with-her-the-words-burst-from-my-lips-before-i/) L. Jayne > [“Your fiery spirit excites me, Keirah, like nothing I have ever felt before. Yet I have the overwhelming desire to put you over my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madison-thorne-grey/your-fiery-spirit-excites-me-keirah-like-nothing-i-have-ever-felt/) [Madison Thorne Grey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madison-thorne-grey/) > [“Damn him. Damn all good looking guys and their chin dimples and well-proportioned muscles and their hair that you want to touch so bad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chelsea-m-cameron/damn-him-damn-all-good-looking-guys-and-their-chin-dimples-and-well/) [Chelsea M. Cameron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chelsea-m-cameron/) [Browse all 254 Fiery quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiery/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The life spills over, some days. She cannot be at rest, Wishes she could explode Like that red tree— The one that bursts into fire All this week. 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