FIRE At the Campfire

You do not live within the match,
you do not live within the kindling.
I called and you sprang forth
from mystery itself.
You come to change one thing into another,
to consume the wood to ashes.
Power elemental, thank you.

Your spell, oh fire, so social,
you always gather us.
So even as I lean
into your crackling and dancing,
I let your licking tongues
spirit me to other fires long ago,
I invite the ones you summoned then.

Oh fire, you ask me one thing only,
to name what I am burning.
Here is what I leave behind:
a public face and sharing.
With the courage of your ardor,
I step across the threshhold
to a private cave where I create.

Your mother is the blazing sun!
I see you’re always reaching fervent
toward her radiant light.
Thank you for your cryptic secrets
and your illumination of the night.
I am grateful for your very nature:
oh fire, exuberance!

©Susa Silvermarie 2024