Bonfire in Lake Elmo MN

Bonfire in Lake Elmo Minnesota

A mound of furniture beckons high
in the empty night. Its’ silhouette
like a great pyramid
doused in gasoline and set ablaze.
Couches, timber, and wood crates
surrounded by the sifting pine horizon,
Old nineteen seventies upholstery burns
like bad taste should burn.

Hot fire presses against the cold air
creating a magnetic force, warming everything
except the tip of a nose.
As the flame wears down to a whimper,
the coals shifting black then red then black again,
speaking hypnosis, flakes of fire rising
on shoots of air, high into the sky,
Glowing hot ash falling
as gently as snow onto my shoulders.