Home

The Fireplace

by Glenn Currier

Its mouth yawns,
a reflex to the brown scent of fall,
its hunger awakened
by winter's first snowy sneeze.
Calm, benign, it studies hickory,
contemplates feet of oak,
relishes memories of kindling
on a bed of last week's news.
A single slender trespass of match
alerts its throat and snout,
and soon it inhales the width and breath
of the room's cool air.
Its anger--an amber tongue
around its wooden catch
invades fibrous entrails.
Its white rage ravishes its prey
swallowing their years
and exhaling its victims as gray
into the white night.

Gathered round the beast
we converse and linger
through its ravenous blue
till all that is left are the black-orange bones
of its contained turmoil
that warmed friends and their love for each other.

12/24/2002

Posted on 12/26/2002
Copyright © 2024 Glenn Currier

Member Comments on this Poem
Posted by JD Clay on 12/27/02 at 01:09 PM

This is a very impressive verse Glenn. Bravo! You have covered every possible angle in fine detail. A magnificent read with a nice touch in the last line. Peace...

Posted by David R Spellman on 12/27/02 at 08:14 PM

You certainly capture so much with the vivid imagery and unique phrasing. Excellent portrayal!

Posted by Chris Sorrenti on 12/30/02 at 12:43 AM

Warmth for the skin and soul here. Love each line for their varied descriptiveness, contributing to the whole as expressed in the title. Give yourself a pat on the back for this one Glenn.

Posted by Christina Bruno on 12/30/02 at 03:57 AM

this is very warm and comforting :)

Posted by Mara Meade on 12/30/02 at 01:26 PM

I appreciate your ability to see the "history" and stories in things others might consider "plain." So well done, so well said/imagined/described...

Posted by Anne Engelen on 12/31/02 at 11:57 AM

Like I can lose myself staring at the flames of a fireplace I got lost in your words! Simply beautiful!

Posted by Ken Harnisch on 12/31/02 at 03:44 PM

a wonderful hearth for all poets to gather around as one year ends and the new one begins....vivid and descriptive, Glenn..and did I forget warm?

Posted by Charles E Minshall on 01/02/03 at 01:41 AM

A warm toasty poem Glenn...Charlie

Posted by Anne Engelen on 02/11/03 at 05:21 AM

So wonderful to read it again. This time the flames even spoke more clearly to me. Congrats on being POTD!

Posted by JD Clay on 02/11/03 at 01:38 PM

The embers of this glowing verse will burn forever in your presentation, Glenn. Like the heated energy of this poem it has risen to the top. Congratulations on becoming Poet Of The Day. Peace...

Posted by Chris Sorrenti on 02/11/03 at 08:46 PM

Hey buddy! Congrats on having POTD!! Well deserved!!!

Posted by Quentin S Clingerman on 02/12/03 at 04:25 AM

A glowing picture you paint in words. An effective analogy. Congratulations on POTD!

Posted by Ken Harnisch on 02/12/03 at 03:29 PM

what a wonderful tribute to one of nature's and man's finest appliances...especially in winter

Return to the Previous Page
 

pathetic.org Version 7.3.2 May 2004 Terms and Conditions of Use 0 member(s) and 2 visitor(s) online
All works Copyright © 2024 their respective authors. Page Generated In 0 Second(s)