memories light my heart to start again

warmth in my veins like medicine

i open the door, gaze at my collection

candles in every crevice and corner

my house is overrun with light

but i am warm

so i let it burn

candles on my nightstand flicker

as i dream of fire consuming me

and awake to see the light i kept too close

fell during slumber, catching every other glow

i...

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In the shadows of the abyss,
where light shatters apart,
hearts ablaze dance softly
in whispers of furious souls.

We cry out to the steel sky,
where pain becomes a song -
blood and steel, love and chaos
in the battle of existence.

Paths of fire and steps of hope:
among echoes of screams,
we awaken the lance.

Echoes of the past
are shackles that bind us,
but we are titans in free...

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Everyone has a fire in their soul

A bright passion that makes them whole

An urge to follow like a fool

A desperate need to fulfill no matter how cruel

A bright spark in their eyes

A light that never dies

A wonderful dream that never lies

A reason to get up and rise

A star in their hearts to answer their wishes

A burning desire inside their chests

A cheery pe...

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Fire,

In the form of Flame,

Is a mother's touch,

Calm, Gentle, Warm,

The same Fire,

With circumstances,

Changes,

Raging, Ravaging, Revolting,

Learn from Fire,

To be a caressing mother,

For Good,

And be the destroyer,

For Evil,

Ignite your Fire,

Within.

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a cough as dead leaves drop

detached with soft faint sigh

last breath of lonely martyrs

murmur of breeze in the sky

gravity's heavier as we age

ancient oaks sad blue eyes

saplings thrust like a lance

a loving that knows no lies

do remember me, I'm here,

did you forget I found you?

like a lost fawn, dappled in

shadowed glades and dew

scoured every ...

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Embers flicker and glow,

taking things nice and slow,

breaking out of it’s cold prison,

a remnant of unwanted ignition.

Breathing in the outside air,

licks of flame reach and dare,

slightly heated in their struggle,

as the arsonist starts to giggle.

No longer easily contained,

angry torrents flutter in orange,

roaring for attention enraged,

burning all wi...

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If your minds eye was open,

Would you consider an unabashed divulgance?

Your forthright nature checks my exubernace

Your beauty makes me timourous

I suppress my passion in fear of your answer

Do i dare wonder about consequence?

You make me feel alive, there is no other, there is no level i can gratify

I would be yours, if not for the latitude of convention.

You bring me joy

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smiles so rare for her

not a welcoming face

fear in pale grey eyes

of warmth not a trace

appearances can fool

no semblance of fire

that beneath the skin

makes the mask a liar

stumbled into tinder

my chimney smoking

horned into bonfires

deception is stoking

inner magma outed

slow magnetic glow

mechanic love only

imagination can sow

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There is so much more to this.

The music does not make song

but the foetal space

amongst famous walls

filled with such au fait grief

and there a beast floats

to see the fear fleeting

on their new found face

in some unfailing destiny,

there she silently screams,

a flame away

God so violently benign

in his passive spirit-

He forges her-

to breath truly ...

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“Did you put another log on the fire?”

As innocent as it was naive, the question
Intended no harm, no trespass
On the rigid boundaries of masculinity.

She didn’t have the image of Wittgenstein
Fending off rivals with a raised poker
In the halls of exalted moral science.

It didn’t throw her thoughts to a
Defensive Popper creating an instant,
Contemporary, and universal moral rule:

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you say I'll get what's coming to me

that I'll pay for making your life hell

one day I'll be on the receiving end

when hot flames I no longer quell

there's a smouldering hell in every heart

waiting its moment to rise up and burn

it lurks beneath the smiles and glances

you're lucky if you don't get your turn

yet I never meant to make you suffer

I'm no saint but ...

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There's 2 sticks

Give it A lot of friction

A slow building tension

Allow it some time It'll start, don't whine

See the little embers? 

all of the smoke?

Take a step back so you don't choke.

Give it room to breathe

Just watch, you'll see.

See, there's a little flame 

all you need is a little time and patience

You wouldn't want all that effort to be wasted.

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As originally published with Clay Literary's Raven: https://www.clayliterary.com/post/design-a-stunning-blog

‘Neath the blistering heat, California poppies cast

themselves to the hillside sun as wayward children

start to lose their breath, as you now fight for yours,

running to chase the summer blues away.

The young and old all begin to fail; heatwaves

take the lun...

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It was a long summer afternoon
a crackling fire lit the yard
the southern sun was setting
while I strummed my old guitar

It was her way of moving to the music
she captured the glowing cinders in her eyes
she danced with the slightest sway in her hips
and her heavenly body torched my skies

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Ritual

It is a grey morning

I am awake early

The backdoor is open

And cool air enters the kitchen

My father is on his knees

Scrubbing a wire brush

On the fire grate

Newspapers on the floor

He takes a rag

And pours black lead

Onto the stiffened fibres

Then he smears it

Onto the scrubbed surfaces

He balls up the newspaper

And throws it on the hearth

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Soft petals fell from her yellow 
green iris.

No sound could be heard as her petals 

fell silent.

A deep breath of air cleared some 
thorns deep inside her. 

Both feet hit the ground like a song 
drunk on cider. 

She stood tall like a tree, 
Showing strength and desire. 

Fire roared while sharp pain 
stabbed deeply inside her. 

Wild flames blazed the thorns 
th...

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The smoke smothers,

forms a solid screen.

The fire frantically fights

for its existence,

twisting and torturing

the air around it

like a dictator leaving

nothing to chance.

The flames writhing,

and rising in their

hot blazing dance.

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Perspective is a dangerous thing

It tears the world apart.

Though it causes terrible pain

There is wisdom to impart.

Do not assume your fellows see the candle as you do

Remember flames look differently to the both of you.

She sees the flame as hell on earth

with fear of fire that kills.

He sees the fire as lust and desire 

sees the flame as fun and thrills.

...

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Mr Reel-Fogg came home exhausted after a hard day of talking. Those green leather benches were so confoundedly uncomfortable and one could never recline in peace.

After a brief attempt to assist Mrs. Reel-Fogg to achieve her ambition of having twelve children he fell into a deep sleep.

Around one thirty in the morning there was a confounded noise outside. He sent Mrs. Reel-Fogg to investigat...

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The Cathedral and holy relics are burning.

For grief of righteous, for the joy of devil.

Will you, our Lord, bring people to the square,

So that, the grief could crawl far away?

I beg you, Lord! Save humans treasure!

Restore the shrine by the whole world!

Or we are on edge of quickly dying.

And this the people understand at last!

Let everyone just pray in their own temples...

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I am sorry 
to see you go,
but know you 
will fare well.

You survived hell
and have a great 
story to tell.

I know our paths 
were meant to cross
and count your departure 
as a big loss.

Even though you may 
drift far away, 
your essence remains.

Our lives are 
forever changed
from your soul flames 
and star dust.  
 

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Preamble: my contribution to this week's Rhymers' theme "fire".

Wouldn’t it be easier to recognise a liar

If caught telling porkies, their pants really caught fire?

As a warped form of justice, it would be rather fun

To see a guilty con man get singed around the bum.

The value of honesty would rapidly be learned

If every untruth told led to buttocks getting burned.

P...

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Its midnight

And all we are going to do is dance

We can’t drink anymore

We drank until we

had our fill

Now the beat of the music controls us

We couldn’t be still even if we wanted to be

The rhythm has us in its grip

And all we can do is dance

Just dance – moves our bodies in time with the tune

Its to loud to make conversation

And there are no words that we need

...

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she used to be so damn happy
but i guess theres more than the eyes can see
because if im speaking truthfully
she was never really that happy
amused? shit, just maybe
confused,
that she was terribly
misused,
thats all she began to know, you see,
the abuse began from a young age
the very peak of her growing stage
the beginning of the book that told her story
was marked and torn from the ...

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This rumination came from growing awareness of my mortality which, in turn, is generated and measured by the expanding list of things once given or assumed that, alas, are no longer possible.

The Mirror

How shall I talk to you, my friend?

How should I regard you

(and will I care)

as you grow ever older before my gaze

while I stay young?

Who are you? Dare I look on yo...

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Many years ago I was intrigued by the appearance on Perth roads of bumper stickers displaying the enigmatic statement that "The Goddess is Dancing". I had no idea what this advertising campaign was all about, so I put together my own preferred explanation.

The Goddess is Dancing

Far from the powdered sand-tracks

in dunes dry beyond ages,

past unwatered acacias

where the wh...

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to you,

i am nothing.

every memory

every laugh 

every smile

every tear

every mistake

every argument

every compliment

is nothing.

i could never compare

to weed

according to you.

i could never compare

to autism and down syndrome jokes

according to you.

my love for you

the fact that you're my best friend

the things you've help...

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I have a fear of fire.

I have a fear of height.

I have a fear of being trapped alone

On my life's very last night.

I have a fear of towers.

I fear the way they sway.

The way the wind's wicked whispers

whistle past with far too much to say.

I fear some in high places.

I fear they do not care.

I fear they lack compassion

I can smell it in the air.

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Everyone deserves a dream or two.

Sleeping in a Forest

Light and fire and music

all dance within me

in this perfect, silent forest

as she welcomes me to her breast,

full with fallen seeds and crinkled leaves

for my head; my bed of ashen river stones,

murmured possums, and repose. Long I slept

while overhead the white-hot starfields

bent to their nightly arcs...

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M A T C H S T I C K

“And to his rock be bound eternal; forever gifting man all that is infernal.
Bound by chain, suffering as the eagle’s meal; freedom bought by the one who shall steal.
Unto the eagle’s beak his blood be lash; to control he who shall become our man of ash.”
___________________________

There is always blood flowing down Prometheus’ mountaintop. He who had delivered to hum...

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When you lit that cigarette

The bones of me shuddered,

The blood in me halted.

What I wouldn’t do for you to light my flame with your lips....

Because I’ve had men tell me that my lipstick tastes of petrol,

That my mouth lights fires,

That my tongue causes explosions

And of course, that opening my legs is the best way to put a fire out.

But this fire begins at you...

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Dawn is naked and alive
pirouetting in the street outside
she is a broad grey sky, endless above

It's not rain...
just some foggy spray licking windows
a coat the building wears
a metaphor I cannot interpret
all irony is groggily lost on me
yawning with my whole body
struggling with the load of memory
I'm oiling daily

So maybe I should stay indoors
get the fire going, boil the kett...

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The searing summer sun        

sets on the distant horizon,

setting ablaze

in a shimmering heat haze

the careless cumulous clouds,

aglow with crimson incandescence.

Distant twinkling stars

awake in the turquoise twilight sky;

mysterious worlds,    

afar and on high.

The end of another glorious day

with promise of more to come.

Days as fresh and gloriou...

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A silent, night sky is loud with the city’s glow.

Reflections upon the water; lead thoughts below.

the humming is fuel to the fire,

    for the electric, funeral pyre.

Colors show who you really are around here,

    there is no time for fear.

Or is there? - where’s little sister?

    If you see her, say I miss her.

Wait.

Rain beating down like laughter on my ears;

  ...

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I drenched myself in kerosene. You struck the match against my heart and watched me go up in flames.

K.W.

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I saw a girl today.

Her hair was fire.

And like fire, I was drawn to her.

Like fire, I kept my distance.

I was afraid she might burn me,

That my passion would consume me.

So I let the moment pass,

And I watched her leave.

But like staring into a flame,

When she was gone,

And I closed my eyes,

I still saw her.

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And I will say - now I am become fire.
The liar, the thief, stirred underneath
In golden chasms burst forth
Unto wrought iron skies
Shedding white scales
Upon the veils of the red.

And I will say - now I am become faith.
The wraith deity, gravity defiler
Tied to the fate, the hate
Of beaten idols
Lying in scattered pieces
Upon barren soils.

And I will say - now I am becom...

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Gathering Winter Fuel

Return to me and bring your loving flame,

despite your sparks my kindling rarely smokes.

Without you life will never be the same..

Between us lies a frozen lake of blame,

through which only a twig of passion pokes.

Return to me and bring your loving flame.

Unless we mend our ways the fates will claim

the pyre where our prid...

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I met a woman at the Blue Nile.

Our first encounter was her attempting to kiss my face. She seems to be in her mid-late fifties/early sixties. She began to tell me that she is okay, over and over again. She began to cry. She told  me her sun died. He OD'ed at 39 years old. She watched him die, with his head between the toilet and the sink. Her other sun blamed his brother's death on her. Sh...

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FIRE

Fire is so beautiful in its own deadly way.

A diverse visual cacophony of colours

all thrown together, each a different

element back in its base gas. Chemical release.

Thick dense smoke curls upwards,

forming a choking cloud which glows

blood red from the wicked flames.

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FALLEN WARRIOR

Snapping wire whirling and curling in the airflow,

shot loose by enemy bullets. More punching holes

in varnished wooden wing struts, splintering

and shredding the very wood.

Thud, thud, thud as steel rain peppers

tight fabric fuselage, tearing

great holes and destroying the structure.

Big dragonfly wing, wing ribs visible

in the mor...

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She said that I looked Irish, as we sat and warmed our hands

Beating djembe herding us to sway and stamp and clap

I looked across and through the flames

That sighed and licked up over logs

Into her eyes, in all their eyes

The light: not fading, changed

Scarlet ribbons curling around

Stripes of orange a...

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