Stepmother Fire
Stepmother to the primal man
her smoke winds upward
her smile bites down
into hardwoods, conifers
animal or man alike
inert or alive
makes no difference to her
she will devour.
elemental
transparent
digestion open to view
leaves, twigs, paper, logs
all shrivel
she sucks vital fluids
until the remains are featherweight,
mummy dry,
fragile flaky feces.
her life cycle tumbles quickly through
all the stages
from heat to spark to smolder to flame
to bonfire and bigger
no matter how much space she covers
she is never satisfied
she eats herself out of an area
starves, fades, passes away.
In the wake
of her carnage and consumption
humanity warms itself
gratefully.
Fresh Hell 