johnsonboy

I'm wondering if anybody has any idea what this one is about.
Again, yes or no is enough.
If you think you can decipher it, that's good too.
Thanks for your votes yesterday.
I'm culling the really weak ones beforeI get this far with them. Hopefully.
This one was published in the school magazine last year and I've been asked to explain it several times to creative writing classes. Luckily, I know what it's about.


Nothing Burns Hotter Than Manzanita

Whereas alchemy is desire
punched into the sponge
of need, therefore blended
by sparkling ash and waiting
upon forthcoming loaves,
and satisfaction is the butter,
limp and liquid, last reaction
of the fine elastic crumb
and crust, turned out
steaming on our common table,

so the fire (come and gone,
carried home, kindled
and consumed, a restless
conjuration in a firebox:
manzanita joints nested
like rebroken bones)
is the combination of an oath,
and a practice, and what is wanted.