Fire

Wraith lights dancing,

Twisting, flickering shapes

Sending shadows to cavort;

A frenetic reel through the night.

Orange and yellow,

Brightness burns the eye,

A beauty which cannot be held;

Its warmth reaches the soul.

Sharp cracks echo,

Rending the brooding silence,

Glowing embers explode;

A myriad of sparkling gems burst forth.

White crystals deck the sky,

Autumn boughs bend toward the heat;

Dark sentinels surround

The dervishes of flame.

Gift of the gods.

Sustainer of life, destroyer of life.

Brightly woven magic

Brings hope against the dark.

© Jim McDowall

September 1993

Good Morning

Eyes unfocused, the world’s a blur,

Morning’s glow claws through.

A watery haze, thin sunlight strikes;

Pounding to renew.

A drum roll sounds ‘neath clammy brow,

Nature’s screaming crew.

A cough erupts as cracked lips part;

A throat is ripped in two.

Leaden head and trembling hand,

Bile upon the tongue.

Faltering steps from rambling limbs;

A new day is begun.

© Jim McDowall

August 1993

The Croft

Crumbling stone, moss covered,

Huddles in the driving rain.

Rats shelter, gaunt and scabbed,

‘Neath rotting beams.

Dawn breaks on desolation.

Roofless cottage, abandoned,

Stares, eyeless in the morning light.

A child’s doll, worn and weathered,

Lies amidst decaying weeds.

A new day begins.

Waving broom, wind lashed,

Quails before the Northern blast.

Broken scythe, blade rusted,

Half buried in the sodden peat.

Another Highland morning.

© Jim McDowall

March 1996