The sunlight is captured, perhaps long ago

trapped in cells of hardwood

harvested and deconstructed

Only to end up a sheet of ads for groceries that I did not read

 

I twist the newspaper in my hands curling it into a thin snake 

that would be easily camouflaged at a stop & shop 

then lay it inside the ring 

casually dropping it amongst its raw kindling brethren

 

a serpent of smoke rises into the world 

the dye coloring it so much darker than

the cumulonimbus that shields us 

from the sunlight it begs to be a part of again

 

as the flames die down 

the embers flash through its skeletal remains 

echoing the lightning that splits the shield briefly

 

finally a piece is light enough, still burning at the edges

the current of heat thrusts it back towards the storm

Briefly it shines against the cloud in sky before disappearing 

Back to the sky where it once belonged 

with a sigh of gratitude