So Many Days and Nights

under all that sun

in candlelight

moonlight before

the hesitant match

the dirt-damp campfire

bunsen-burner

gas stove

cigar tip and stammering

Chinese lantern

all those days

with the magnifier's

skinny blue maybe

lisping up

we were asking

the wrong

question

it's not "what is fire?"

but

"who?"

(after reading in Heaven's Coast by Mark Doty)