176

Dewey stood in Hollis' shadow
            But was partially lit by the indirect
                        Radiance of the pile of burning
Refuse before them. It was an
            Asymmetrical stack of flat elements
                        Of discomposed furniture and parts
Of old barn doors with joists
            Cut to three foot lengths balanced
                        At each side to facilitate the spread
Of flame and to prevent a
            Dampening collapse. The bonfire was
                        Static and continuous and inherently
Unstable, creating unstable shapes
            In the terrain of the observers' faces,
                        Perpetually extinguishing and renewing
Itself beyond the eye's capacity
            To see. It was situated near the
                        Edge of a harvested corn field,
In the blue light of the cold
            And to Dewey the woodsmoke in
                        Its slow spiral looked like a schematic
Drawing of a small intestine
            Where it sawed and guttered and
                        Reconstituted itself in the sheer air.
It smelt of gas and damp
            Sacking and mould and the iron taste
                        Of blood mixed with spit in his mouth.
Hollis bared his teeth to the sky
            And spat the phlegm from his throat,
                        Laughing and shaking his inclinded head.