Firelight sparkles

Firelight sparkles

Through Waterford,

Crystalised inferno

Cut glass rainbow

Hot cinders splinter onto the hearth rug

They are glowworms

Leaving scorch marks as they cool

No fires break out today

Even as the jagged energy

Permeates the darkened room

Shadows dance suggestively

The fiery liquor burns the soul

Tip it up

Empty it out

Throw it across the room

In a tantrum

Brittle as glass am I,

Watch me break.

Fragile fingers slip through

The neck of the bottle

Sorried stories pour

Straight out into the cold light

Worried secrets laid bare

In reckless language

Spilling out of heartbreak

Onto ragged mats and canvas.

An old cat lies on a hot spot

Dreaming of other lives

Nine times nine

Is eighty-one

Which was not a good year for the roses.

The cat was always a good dancer

He remembers all the moves

From way back when.

Twitching in his sleep

Oblivious to the notion of shame

Every day is an adventure

Perhaps the glass needs to break

To release the tension

The fire burns down

Without discolouring the pieces

Gilded splinters

Brushed into the corner

A pile of uncut gemstones

Flawed and fragmented

Worth their weight in misdirection

But never worth their salt

Or the wait

For a proper understanding

Of circadian rhythms

And the pointlessness of purpose.