Magician of the Fire

In the quiet
of the air ' ' ''" L
the fire glows
a dull crimson
comfortable
complacent and
the smug  red coals glow
quietly
sponging the air
a soft steady
heat
then you bluster
in, heels clanking
crash the calm         *
and with your
hand like a
wand  you fling
black lumps from
bucket to grate
strike the hearth
a savage ringing
the wood  stacked
high like a pyre smoulders
angrily and with a
word  you bid the flames
leap up
blue smoke reels
twirls then bursts
chokes the
chimney-throat
as I watch mesmerised
the whole black mass
explodes before my eyes
life leaps madly spewing
thick blue plumes
a cacophany
an hysteria of
movement  and  light
under  your
careful eye
throwing unsteady
fire into the room
to bruise
our  aching skin.

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