Featured Poem: Fire

Fire

From ember’s sleep I rise and stretch

To what is dry and prone to me

I hiss and lick the kindling’s stick

And turn to char with evil glee

That which I consume will cease to be

All in my path, my life’s own fuel

I burn and roar with windy storm

Voracious bent, unfeeling, cruel

To those who’d stay my hungry tongue

I roar, defy, devour, renounce

Now alive, I’m free, unbound

I jump, I spark, their efforts trounce

Across the grass I race and leap

On prairie wind I spread my reign

Through brittle brush and timber deep

I leave behind a blackened plain

Through forest crowns I climb and fly

From tree to tree my sparks are hurled

I stain with smoke the summer sky

And make a furnace of the world

Till lack of fuel or water’s spout

Kills me black and finds me dead

In ember’s hide I peer without

Once more to rise and sweep ahead