Poem: What Keeps Me Awake

 his bones resurface from the ashpit
    whenever I think I've crushed
 his final nib & forklifted
more lush flames onto his grounds

 last week it was a hand
passed itself up through char
& cupped compacted crater lip
clunk   clunk  thud

like a catfish that won't die
for several hammer swings to head
it flopped & flipped its way past roots
                         which w(oul)d've recoiled
if they c(oul)d

 long ago—cedars don't believe
in vengeance
                       don't understand
how remembered fires
are passed by force of skin
to skin & spread
                               if not contained
by lighting them again

Written in response to Big Tent Poetry’s Monday Prompt for 22 November 2010.
Big Tent Poetry

Enhanced by Zemanta

10 comments for “Poem: What Keeps Me Awake

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *