How unforgettably the fire that night
Danced in its place, on air and timber fed,
Built brightness in the eye already bright.
Upon our knees, held by a leash of light
Each straining shadow quietly laid its head
As if such giving and such taking might
Make ripe its void for substance. The fire said,

If as I am you know me bright and warm,
It is while matter bears, which I live by,
For very heart the furnace of its form:
By likeness and from likeness in my storm
Sheltered, can all things change and changing be
The rare bird bedded at the heart of harm.
We listened, now at odds, now reconciled.

I was impatient when the laughing child
Reached for the fire and screamed. Pointless to blame
That splendor for the poor pain of an hour.
Yet fire thereafter was the burnt child’s name
For fear, and many ardent things became
Such that their fire would have, could fire take fear,
Forgot the blissful nester in its flame.