River on Baltic Sea

Night Safari 7 – Bonfire(and the Day of Birth)

Before death with all the burden,
Set up a bonfire as a funeral pyre.
Ashes will cover the land and air,
Offerings for the Harmattan season.

It could’ve been a flash of time.
How a phoenix ends its life.
Or it could’ve lasted for a lifetime.
So now I wake up only to die.
For how long it passed I do not know.
I watched it explode into a blinding white, then
Shrink into a blazing fire.
Maybe I’m dead anyway.
And this is my funeral wake.

Here, all the trees are burned down but one,
Standing in the center, cutting the moon in half.
The fire might have existed since the beginning of time.
For it reaches high, pushing
The crown of Baobab towards the sky, and
Leaves the moon with permanent scars.
Towers of termitaria surround the plain,
Their dim shapes burning red in the haze.
For so long I stand at the periphery,
Being the only person attending the ceremony.

————————————

My fingers are a few inches away.
Still I feel nothing.
My life of lies could not be destroyed even in the afterlife.
I plunge forward.

A hand catches and pulls me into the fire.
I feel no pain.
Only a tight feeling around my chest,
And a voice whispering happy birthday.

For so long we just hug in the flames. I watch
Thousands of flickering petals dancing on your back,
Gold over white.
“Your know your hair smells like jelly and butter."
I mutter over your shoulder.
“And shines like amber."
Later I figure out your smile is crimson.
Tastes like wine from the cellar.

————————————

After the death comes the celebration.
Ask the Baobab, center of the universe, bridge between the earth and heaven.
All will settle down, season after season,
Becoming a part of the earth, and then
Rise up as towers, to me
The most glorious thing ever.

We dance at the treetop.
Drunk on the same thing.
Sometimes you carry me in your arms and jump between branches.
We laugh like babies.
I tell you the story of how people lock eyes in a circle dancing.
“We still would’ve found each other, won’t we?" You answer.