A wildfire burns on Jellico Mountain
like a thousand eyes glowing in the black woods,
a black velvet painting—pinpricked—the light
rippling through with such beauty, you forget
to breathe, flames blinking like luminous
creatures who live in the deep ocean lighting
their own paths. The flares lick the trees;
you feel the white heat and the rule of blaze,
you hear it as you exhale: the crackle
and sizzle, the clamor of tragedy
combusting as you drive away into the dark.