There is beauty in ash
as embers glow brightly.
Once sapling, resilient to touch,
life juices now almost gone.
Last moist quiet hiss
escapes crumbling sinews
as ashes join earth.
Glowing flecks break free
catch wind, flicker and float.
Momentary sanctuary
in darkening sky.
Posting to dVerse, the virtual pub for poets, where today I’m hosting the final Quadrille Monday of 2019. Quadrille: poem of exactly 44 words, sans title. I’ve chosen the word “glow” as the Quadrille prompt. Folks must use the word “glow” or a form of the word within the body of their poem. Pub opens at 3 PM Boston time. Stop on by!
lillian the home poet 
I would love a campfire… the sound and the glow of the sparkle… a wonderful gift from the wood to the night
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Exactly! And 44 words didn’t even allow commenting on the wonderful scent that also comes with this scene!
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We need all the warmth and fire in this winter season. Love the sounds of that hissing and flickering glow of light. Thanks for hosting.
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Glad to be here, Grace. I’m afraid our camping days are over…..that’s all we did in our early married life and until a few years after our kids were gone off to college. I miss the campfires and the smell of coffee in that old tin pot early in the morning!
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There is something special about a camp fire. You evoke the sight and crackle.
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For me….the evening campfire was always the best part of the day. Although, I adored waking up inside our tent, cold nose sniffing the aroma of coffee perking on the fire as, in those days, my husband was always the first one up. 🙂
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A warming campfire scene, Lill, which has given me a glow inside. I love the appeal to the sense of sound in the lines:
‘Last moist quiet hiss
escapes crumbling sinews
as ashes join earth’
and the alliteration in:
‘Glowing flecks break free
catch wind, flicker and float.’
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So glad you enjoyed, Kim. How we loved our camping days….the first 25 years of our married life…pre kids and until a few years after they’d gone to college….and our backs no longer took kindly to the tent floor. But of those evening campfires…..:)
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Beautiful moment Lillian.
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Thank you, Carol. I’ve always found staring into a campfire magical….especially when the little bits flare into the air.
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These days camping means a soft bed in an RV or motel. Your description of the campfire resonates well. With me, it was my grandfather who got up first. The smell of frying bacon mixed with the coffee odor. As a kid the sparks in the air scared me, thinking they would catch trees on fire.
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I”m with you Glenn. We’ve not camped in 20+ years but oh how we loved it when we did. Only tent camping. All through early marriage and with kids….partly a matter of all we could afford. But we felt rich, sitting by the campfire; snuggling into sleeping bags at night; sharing gorgeous scenery across the country with our kids. A national forest campground near the Tetons was perhaps my favorite one with the kids.
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I’ve never camped but I’m familiar with wood fires. The sigh as it dies down is lovely.
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Thank you, Jane. So glad you enjoyed!
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🙂
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I am easily absorbed into this scene going back to my youth as a girl guide
Thanks for dropping ny to read mine Lillian
Much✏love
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Glad to have you join dVerse! A Girl Guide? Is that different from a Girl Scout? Always happy to rekindle memories for folks. 🙂 Staring into a campfire can be mesmerizing!
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Lillian what a beautiful description, and I like the idea of the final hisses and brief respite in the air before the ash finds its resting place.
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Ah you read the details! Thank you and so glad you enjoyed!
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You are very welcome, Lillian.
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I still enjoy sitting around a fire watching the flames dance in the night. Especially, when I am drumming with kindred souls.
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Oh….I’ve always wanted to be in a drum circle! And by a dancing fire too….sounds wonderful!
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There is beauty … And metaphorically thinking, aI believe memory is it. Which gives the poem essence. Those children of the earth … You know, in Norway we have this saying, “brent barn skyr ilden,” meaning “burned children shun the fire.” And, ash turns to earth. And earth is history. And memory. And a distance to this what called upon Moses to rise, and respect for it, is called for, today. Nice touch.
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Thank you for your thoughtful reply here!
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feelin the analogy to life … and nice description of a campfire!
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Ah yes…I do love a campfire! Sad we are not camping now that we’re in our 7th decade…but many many wonderful memories of those times with our kids!
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as I live off grid in a tiny home I guess I am pretty well close to camping full-time 🙂
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This poem was beautifully worded. Well written.
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So glad you enjoyed!
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Your campfire is entrancing with hiss of wood and floating ash…can’t wait to go camping again! We’ve tented with kids. Now we take our 5th wheel southwest a few weeks in winter 🙂
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We always tent camped…in our early days of marriage…and then all those years with our kids. It was so amazing to sit by the fire at night….just mesmerizing!
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Nice sound in these lines with the alliteration: “Glowing flecks break free
catch wind, flicker and float.”
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Thank you, Frank.
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This poem delivers the warmth needed for the season! Have a blessed Christmas, Lillian!
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And a Merry and Blessed Christmas to you as well!
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Thank you, Lill!
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The smell of a winter fire makes everything glow. (K)
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It does indeed. In all our almost 50 years of marriage…and my growing up days….we only had a fireplace in one home and that, the one we lived in for only 3 years. I’ve always loved fireplaces. A friend told me to use the speaking “search” on Netflix and say “fireplace” and this time of year, the scene of a fire place will come on your tv, complete with the crackling sound. I did that….but just looked and seemed to fake to me. Maybe I should try it with all the lights out? 🙂
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My parents had a few homes with fireplaces and it was always a treat to come in cold and wet from playing in the snow and sit in front of one with logs burning. I’ve lived in apartments with fireplaces, but they’ve all been decorative. TV is not going to do it.
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A beautiful write Lillian, I love how those glowing flecks flicker and float xxx
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Thank you….to me, I can get lost staring into a camp fire!
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Beautiful ode to a campfire!
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Thank you, Linda. I do miss those early days of tent camping when we were first married and then all those years with our kids. These days, it’s a cabin, hotel, VRBO or cruise ship LOL. But I do have all those glorious memories and photos too!
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Such a wonderful description of fire!!
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Thank you, Phillip. So glad you enjoyed!
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I do love a campfire. We have many of them “on top of the hill” at the home farm with family. Beautiful!
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Me too. I miss them! Tent camping days are long gone for us….once our kids married and our backs became a bit tender….these days it’s a cabin, VRBO, hotel or cruise ship LOL
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Ah, how I love the sight of ambers rising off of a fading fire! Wonderful imagery, lillian! 🙂
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Glad you enjoyed, Frank!
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