The Wampum Belt

Fire And Smoke

red as searing hot

the flames of desire

fanned by yesterdays thoughts

' collected visions, relived investments '

gone realities in burned debris

beginnings born from empty arms

stirred the fire as ashes waft

warmth friction sparks blazes high

broken branches are bodies spent

gratefully torched the flame subsides

resistant coals of burnished red

reminisce the temperature of last nights fire

spent fire works lay cold and damp

fragments used now used up

burned and gone ashes now gray

in the smoke of lingering ideas

who carries the torch in today's heart?

a matchbook moment to ready the fire

restore the heat of passions desire

quell the flames that still are warm.

Myrtle Thomas