Two Fires in the Forest

 At opposite ends of the same forest,

two fires burn—

not loud, not wild,

but steady with the kind of heat

that builds when the world forgets

to pause.

One crackles in a grove of stone

ancient, calculated,

where bark peels from trees like thoughts unraveling,

each flame fed by tasks

stacked like wood no one asked to split.

Smoke curls through twilight

long past the day's farewell,

and sleep

that gentle moss once familiar

refuses to grow

beneath feet that never fully rest.

The other flickers

at the edge of a field

where the wind changes without warning,

and the air hums

with voices too many to count.

There, the fire is not built,

it’s caught

lit by chance and memory,

by words unspoken

and burdens carried like water in woven baskets,

each drop too precious

to let spill.

Both fires live in their own rhythm,

yet share

a silent knowing.

One bends beneath the weight of creation,

the other

beneath the gravity of emotion.

One counts hours

in shadows that stretch across parchment skies,

the other in heartbeats that quicken

with each turn of the wind.

And still—

they endure.

Not because the trees grow kinder

or the storms less sharp,

but because they’ve learned

how to burn clean

without consuming all they touch.

There are nights

when the stone grove sighs,

its fire worn thin,

and across the forest,

a breeze carries the warmth

of the field’s flickering strength

a quiet offering,

not to fix,

but to say: you are not alone.

And there are mornings

when the wind howls too loud,

tugging at every tether

in the field of chaos,

and a single ember from the stone grove

rises like a breath,

reminding: stillness is possible, even now.

Their roots do not cross,

but they echo

through soil and sky,

a dialogue of flame and ash,

of smoke and wind,

a shared endurance

wrapped in separate storms.

In this great wilderness,

where every soul is asked

to keep lighting

their own small fire

in the dark—

two do so

side by side.

Not always near.

Not always seen.

But always burning

through.