Flicker Flame

It starts so small
A faint glow probing away darkness
A dancing, flickering ballerina
Tiptoeing across the logs.
As she twirls, another dancer rises from the dust
Rising, falling, sending shadows into a frenzy of life
And what was once a single dancer is suddenly
Thousands.
Tiny, little emblems of light
Devouring the logs, merrily crackling
A fiery inferno, a harmonious choir,
Blackening, consuming with a delicate tap of their toes
It's a party, a ball, an escalating rollercoaster
Say goodbye to the darkness as they rise to the sky
Flashing ruby dresses, burning crimson scales
A twisty-turvy dance, breathtakingly graceful
And then at the climax of their wild waltz
They begin to tire
Their nimble, soaring movements
Slow as they fade into the melancholy remnants of logs
Until she is the only one left
The tiny ballerina
She twirls, trips, falls
And in a silent, glowing sigh, dies.