Furnace Under Moss Bed

Darkness resides within you, 

Inflamed by a coal alighting your hearth.

Unsustainable warmth, burn quick!

The cold always tightened your heart.

Such a lonely furnace, 

Unattended and forgotten, 

Burnt from caretakers, 

Exhausted under moss bed. 

Except on those nights, 

when beachcomber and sailor

join in delight.

Seas and sands waltz,

perform under limelight, 

A show for mankind,

all creatures’ divine right. 

Awakened you stagger, 

Shaken and numb, astounded and battered

Living eternities, all for an hour.

Burn for this moment, so
my
ashes
will

scatter.

Michael Carney