FIRE

What is it, fire?
Why must I keep watch
while the hour stretches
long and thin?  I drew you
together, propped you, fed you,
cozied you, expecting
comfort in return.
Now I find, as the clock turns
day over day
I cannot let you live
without me or die
before me.

I draw closer to you
and closer.  The perimeters of my world
pull in, a narrow colonnade
that ends in shadows.
My perspective dwindles,
centers in your light,
your dance, your moods.
You ruffle and curl like sizzling 
bacon.  Your little fingers ravel,
reel out, create
and destroy.

Now only the two of us,
together we face
the gnomes of night.
You are my torch.  I preserve
the death in you to protect
the life in me.
I give you power,
you give it back.  Ashes to ashes
to ashes.

			Lucille Murphy