A Spark

Written sometime in March '08 while in Western Classics class

A spark.
One.
One spark against the blanket night.
One spark on trampled grass.
One spark.

It glows, this spark,
Yet I tarry.
Do I need fire?
Or am I content
This cool spring eve
With my own jacket?

A fire.
A fire warms.
It blazes and rages.
It lights a view now hidden in dark.
It consumes and must be fed,
This fire.

My coat, though,
Is soft.
It holds out cold.
It holds me well.
Its arms on mine,
This coat.

Where to from here?
The spark flickers.
It dims.
Do I fan it?
Or let it burn out?
Perhaps a third:
Let us see whether the wind blows.