Smouldering

by Alan S. Bridges, Jacquie Pearce, and Michael Dylan Welch

First published in Vines #5, November 2021, page 23. Originally written by email, May 10–16, 2018, except for the third verse, originally written 17 September 1998, Foster City, California.

winding, unwinding

in my burn pile

a missed ornament Alan

the pot plant too big to hide

up in smoke Jacquie

fire-charred fence—

the neighbour’s dog

half way underneath Michael

chasing lightning strikes

for black morels Alan

summer night

the ghost story cut short

by a flaming marshmallow Jacquie

my autobiography

still smouldering Michael