Paul carried a bonfire in his vest pocket.
From time to time he took it out and let it lick his face.
He collected wishbones and sent them priority mail
to his congresswoman as a political donation.
This week’s twelve feet of snow on the Sierra Nevadas
was all the world’s crocodile tears swept up by the wind.
Paul’s heart is made of bees wax
and fuels the bonfire in his vest pocket.
It is his silver cord not a candlewick
that connects the two.
The whalebone archway where couples marry
was flown to Albuquerque by a rookie hurricane.
Paul dismisses the notion
he extracted his bonfire from whiskey.
He found a baby wildfire abandoned in the forest
and raised it as his own.
copyright © 2023 Kenneth P. Gurney
Umflop 