Familiar Fires

Trembling
minds seek comfort
in the certainty
the clarity
of familiar fires,
instinctual, sheltered,
ritualistic and unaware

Heat without warmth
light without vision
creation without imagination

Ideas forged in
familiar fires
at 621 degrees Fahrenheit
melt into words
taking 24 hours
to harden fully in the mold

But keep liquids away
from molten words
or they can explode.

******

Words fired from greedy mouths,
barrels digitized, rationalized,
super-sized in high-definition,
increase in velocity
with recognition

Animation, incitation
stimulation incessant and mindless
wild choreography
mad improvisation

tearing
through the flesh
of a nation
leaving black wounds
infected and screaming,
deadly in their actuality
driving us mad
with grief
with rage

virtual truth murders an age

televised telepathy
dog whistle orchestration
ignorant
random
inevitable
produces such
devastating sorrow

and absolution
is sought
and granted
before the cost
of the sin
can be reckoned.

Gio Reads "Familiar Fires" on YouTube