Consuming Fire
Kaitlin Wachter, Frederick Community College
Her hand grasps steel,
Steel strikes flint –
The spark awakens
Then sputters, lacking fuel.
Tinder, dry, held in reserve, is slowly swallowed
Stoking, growing light.
Her soft breath encourages the flicker
To flourish,
To trace the paper
It takes patience.
But it’s heavily rewarded
With a spreading tongue of flame, dancing
On the perilously thin edge
Of kindling.
Bark, brushed by flame
Peeling, curling into itself
Splitting, leaving open to air
The vulnerable skin,
White with verdant tinges.
The blaze, no pity shown
Consuming, in tiny bites
The logs placed across,
Pinning down the kindling, shuddering –
Soon the air is crackling with overwhelming
Heat, ash rises and the flame roars,
Victorious.