Fireplace

Alan Harris

By the fireplace tonight

we are helping the fire warm us.

These flames are as old as pain

and as new as tomorrow's journey.

While the logs listen,

we think of stories to tell

that crackle and sizzle

and laugh into the air.

We confess old secrets

and fresh hopes, surprised

at the fire's way with truth.

What warm gift is here?

If fire were aspiration,

would its color differ?

If fire were catharsis,

would it not still crackle?

If fire were love,

would its flames fail to dance?

By the fireplace tonight

we and the flames are one.

All