I d Like a Little Fire

I’d Like a Little Fire By Ingrid Bruck

Hot. Gimme heat. Gimme fire in the fireplace Candlelight and flame Hot heat pressing darkness Daily crush and twist of paper Pile on twigs and bark Criss-cross smaller split logs Open the vent Strike the match Ignite paper, light candles Watch curling smoke float up the flue Gray tresses rippling like hair under water The first yellow flames flick lick Burn the kindling sticks Eager to sear to heartwood In the end Hot transforms Ember, ash, dust My glowing skin Does not fear fire’s end Luxuriating in hot hot hot Fire celebration alight in the grate (After: Rachel Zucker’s I’d Like a Little Flashlight)