The Fireman Investigates the Properties of Ash

THE FIREMAN INVESTIGATES THE PROPERTIES OF ASH


The Fireman is cold again.
He's always cold
because the universe is a cold place.

He lights a fire in a fireplace.
The wood burns and burns,
burns out.

The wood looks old and grey.
Tired the way old men get tired
toward the end.

But it holds the shape of wood
the way bone holds skin.
Until the Fireman pokes it with a stick.

Then it falls into flakes,
transformed by breath or wind
into something that scatters.


Richard Smyth

Posted over on Anabiosis Press