By Firelight
I feel the leaves crackle beneath my feet.
I look up and find you
haloed in fire light.
Your effervescent glow in the raging bonfire
fills me with a heat not known
by mere flickering flame.
The sun has set behind me,
the last vestiges of day have finally given up
their steely grasp on the expectant revellers.
They mill about the firelight
like moths drawn to its warm embrace.
I stand clear in the newly formed shadow
watching, the light catch your hair
as the soft tendrils dance
in the breeze of the chilled evening.
You move around the crowd
capturing all those you look upon.
I wonder when it was that you first seized
my heart and clamped it in your fist.
A tight embrace I would never relinquish.
Darkness takes the party,
the smell of burning permeates the air.
You and the firelight are the only barriers
to the cold night that seeps in
around our small gathering.
Hushed watchers huddle protectively,
both anxious and enthralled
by evening’s soft kiss on their cheek,
a tender stroke of its cold fingers down their necks
trails along their slender arms nestled against chests.
A shiver passes through your body
though you do not flinch,
just smile into the encroaching darkness
in anticipation of further delights
offered only in dark hours.
The sky explodes into life
illuminating the grounds once more,
touching all the faces with hues of green and red.
You see my face illuminated in man-made stars
destined to burn out in a heartbeat.
Your eyes penetrate my being
sending the cacophony of many fireworks
skittering to the back of my mind.
Our breath holds us, sentinels
watching the world catch light
and burn around us.
Reflected in your eyes I see myself
rooted, as the light of the world
rains down on me
and for a moment it is beautiful.
JC
