Moira Egan, Smoke

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““If you were smoke,” he said, “you’d be the smoke
that rages from a forest fire, close
and wild and dangerous.” Here ends the quote,
but not the source of it, and me morose
because I’ve always tried to be the smoke
that billows gentle in the temple, joss
or sandalwood, the incense that’s the yoke
to help us get to god. For me, the clos-
est feeling to religion is the smoke
my body gives off when it gets too close
to someone else. And right back to the joke:
I torch the temple by mistake, confess
my smoking gun is still my one desire
for one who’ll feed the flames and love my fire.”

-- Moira Egan, Smoke
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