Firedance

The firedancer stands on a high platform
Drinking in the flames of the dying sun
The people of the bazaar gather
Drawn as one to this place
This magical stack of creaking wood
Hung with lavish rugs
The firedancer\u2019s stage

He smiles softly,
His eyes glinting in the fading light of the day
And watches as the sun sinks
To places unknown
Washing the bazaar in reds and oranges
Setting the tall city towers ablaze
Like twilight torches
Heralding night

And the sun at last
With a final flash of brilliant light
Surrenders to night
And falls behind jagged mountains

The firedancer tenses
Then stretches
Slowly
And extends an arm
To beckon to the stars
The few diamonds
That challenge the dying
Blue of the day

He throws back his head suddenly
And laughs
And calls down the fires of the stars
And the rugs burst aflame, and he
Dances in the flames, writhing
In the cold heat that burns in the heavens


~ PeteVG