before the rain.

duders,
i love fire.
i love love LOVE it.
i mean,
it's pure natural energy activation.
and that's dope.
y'all already know what a snob i am about building a fire,
and last night was no exception.
i made my little structure, a pillar-pagoda of split bits
of kindling, without any small sticks to catch quicker, either.
a few twists of newspaper,
and one lonely matchstick was all it took.
one single small source, and it all went up exactly as planned.
a raging blaze amazes me, entrances me, lights my nights,
and keeps me company.
that's one hundred percent expert.
just sayin',
i erect and ignite one helluva sexy lookin' campfire.

it's a source of personal pride, neighbors.
i mean,
i am a man, despite any evidence to the contrary.
a barbaric overactor and reactor and enactor,
striking sparks and catalyzing combustion.
that's manly, kids, like it or not.
*
i also enjoy conversation.
huh?
oh c'mon, friends.
sure i love talking,
but i'm not talking about monologues.
i like knowing things and learning things and hearing things just as much.
and listening is one sure-fire way to get that to happen.
so, like i said,
i enjoy conversation.
dialogue.
giving and taking and letting the words flow where they will.
and if there's a towering and inflamed structure
casting smoky dramatic shadows across the woodsly goodness
and across our faces at the same time?
uh-huh.
good stuff.
laying in the grass next to a burly beacon of Folk Liveliness,
contrasting cool dark blades of green grass
with hot bright tongues of red flame?
yeah!
and talking for a time with worthwhile people?
don't be dumb-
those're the finest ingredients for a fine night.
for sure.
***********
it's raining now.
off and on.
after our fire,
the night got underway correctly.
reading is hard when the pittering pats of tippy-tapping drip-drops
tattoos and steady static rhythm into your brain.
lullabye-babied into stone-cold sleepytime?
i doo-doo that background-noisy-type sh!t.
dreams, perhaps happened,
but even in the absence of subconscious streams of id and ego,
everything else continues unhindered.
yep.
it's all really happening over here.
i spend nights like money,
but i'll forever sleep alone;
never quiet, never soft.....