Forming Flames

How I thought his gift so strange My brother knowing my fear of flames Last Christmas came presented me An unassembled fire pit It stayed outside in it's box 'Til the rain and snow wore down it's seams I brushed back the urge to display it Noting no safe proximately to the trees I was always the keeper of containment The watchdog of unattended candles The hose in hand ready at an instant first responder Should the dancing fire flee her stage Still I thought it might be sweet To warm beside the fire's light To have it glow on moonless nights On standby to extinguish It spent a year without design Sleeping without soot and ash Then hauled away to a new locale My moving to the lake house It mocked me from the storage shed Why did it pose a threat And then I found it's purpose clear Most unexpectedly A box tied in satin ribbon It, too, travelled to the lake And make no mistake It was meant for the flames Long kept letters from a lover long gone Like an overdue library book The penalty fees had escalated beyond reason What once so worthy of saving Became a heavy box of burden A stabbing sword of stolen dreams Perhaps my brother knew my pain Saw how I struggled to part with the past Ever the Champion of my wounded soul His gift took on a new light I with match in hand, mighty courage Set to blaze the broken promises The betrayal of words I so believed Photographs that showed his disguise And watched, without flinching As the cinders rose Fireflies into the night The paper trail of tragic love perished Succumbing to the swallow of a heated heart That found it time to say goodbye And the fire I so feared Became a new friend A willing accomplice A means to an end Near that fire pit there was no pity Instead a warming to take away the cold