Burns a bridge

burns a bridge
the night long, this heat
retards bitterness and cold
yellow-red flickers illuminate, but dimly
even in that moment fleeting
but wonders he later
wherefore the stench
and who has shut the road
again.

we do not swim.

in motion emotion forever
forward
fresh, frenetic,
pushed by what
i know not
pulled more like
perhaps by gravitational force
or some repulsion.
the formula admits no closed form solution.

ash & ember
linger in their dull glow.
fire can cauterize, staunch, and save the wounded,
but also sear
the mortal flesh,
branding innocents,
and in smoky shadows scar–
spreading jumble-tumbles of silent speaking symbols–
others inspect for structure or sense
and in failing ask
why