Breathe It In

Burnt fingers claw at flickering flames

Where once a fire blazed

Charred flesh

Smoky sweetness fills the air

They breathe

We breathe

Ash and crisped skin

Flaking

Fluttering on the way

Down

In

Sedimentation in the lungs

And the heart

Damaged, over-cooked and falling apart

Barbecues are never to last

Just for the summer

Put out with the weather

Dampened by seasons changed

And charcoal prices raised

It costs so much

To do the same

And strike a match to bring the flame

And find the fuel

No logs in the place

Or the basket beside, wicker

We could burn

But short-term

Short-lived, without kindling

I didn't know

It was such an art

Fire start-ers

Fire stoppers

Heat evaporated, warmed the chill

For a moment

Nothing will

Replace that heat, the glory blaze

Look back through the smog and haze

Of cigarette smoke

The embers that glow

Not stomped out

But left

To dampen till death

Don't pick it up

Don't breathe it in

It's bad for your lungs

And the settling

Of smouldering ash

Slowly scattered away

A breeze

A laugh

And the fire will fade.