Combustion

Combustion

The smoke eaters know

that a new fire burns hot,

jumping from tree top to

tree top, needles exploding 

like roman candles as it 

hurries past the break. Until

it dies for want of breath.

But the fire that lies below, 

an old blaze burning 

beneath a carpet of leaves,

lasts the longest.

Sometimes it can last for

years without smoke or

ash. Until the day it says

I can’t live this way anymore, 

and bursts into the clearing,

looking for combustion.