Like a serpent the fire’s flames flick at the air

Sensing something curious lingering quietly

In the smokey realm floating above the glare

Between the hazy vision of dreams and clarity

Flames continue to dance on burning carcasses

Of sacrificial logs, anointed with oil and set aflame

Their wooden bones glow as their body diminishes

We do not shriek in horror as we watch their frame

Consumed by fire, burning until collapsing into ash

We cannot turn away, we are spellbound by the sight

Captured in the allure of the flame and sporadic flash

That splits the shroud of darkness that conceals the night

Even when the skeletal remains are nothing more than coals

We stay, transfixed by the sight of the glowing of eternity

As if what we see are all that remains of the transformative soul

The sacrificial flames have exposed the essence of our mortality