Vulcan

Thou art to me

A rapid oxidation

A violent destructive burning

That can combust and propagate

Dispense in microgravity

Smother in flames.

This is not the hour for “hot fires”

And I am very much aware

Of the tremendous “glow”

The terrifying weapon

Suddenly peering through

another summer.

Cool fires as opposed to hot fires

Help in the growth

And do not damage the soil.

A man who controls the fire

Averts harmful catastrophes

And fills a life with constructive

Use of the hot matter

Produces something useful

Exothermic and self-sustaining.

Life is nothing like the movies

And I realize

We will never meet again.

The beauty of the smoke

Is that the flames are no longer diffusible

No longer confusing

And they do mark the day.

Rosa Arlotto

November 18, 2007