To look upon the fire

To look upon the fire

Gaze into the flame

Mesmerised by the exotica

Of its dance

The writhing pillars,

Flicking tongues

Lost in a reverie of otherliness

When there was music,

Dancing was an extravagant affair

Choreographed

As an embodiment of desire.

How thrilling is the drift

Into a past, lost

From the future present,

Biding in another time.

As the shadow of existence

Passes through,

Cleaving thoughts of impurity

Clearing the mind of apathy

Moving the spirit

Into another realm

Where the wildfire

Still rages

The ashes are yet to come

The image is caught

In a splendour of vibrant movement

The pain of it

Yet to be felt

In a retrospective

When the creative light is dimmed

Art is no longer an affirmation

But is a re-birth,

A joyous moment re-imagined

A reflective sigh

Half remembered

As a blaze of outrageous

Impropriety

And all the better for it.