Fire

Lady, I am jealous.
The whole room tilts toward you.
Everyone slides in your direction,
Leaving me exposed as the exception.

Lady, I pledged allegiance
to those of your kind for too long.
Your laughter but a cackle
And that harsh god you hide

Behind your smile.
What does it mean
That you closed the door on
Your father all those years ago

And yet go on incessantly
About your saintly mother
With no acknowledgment
Of the spiritual imbalance?

Your admirers I want to punish
As well for the crime
That I myself committed.
Last night, in a dream,

The father I had banished
For more than half a century
Came to me. Present and real
He was, and seen.

Oh yes, it was him all right.

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