By Marissa Wilkinson
All things are an exchange for fire,
and fire for all things,
as goods for gold
and gold for goods
– Heraclitus
You and I, in harmony
Give and take, in equilibrium
The hands of justice tip,
Left and right, right and left
Symmetry, disrupted and restored
Ever shifting and ever mirroring
The world as it is and was
My flames bring you down
Where you’d grow too tall
Your fingers cover mine
Where they’d reach too far
And curl them inwards
Interlocked with yours
You and I, in partnership
Not perfect, but close
I’ll leave you running free one day
And return to see the ground
Blanketed in leaves and sticks
Chaos abounds
Then maybe I will burn too bright
To kill that which remains
What I should’ve taken care of
‘fore I left you in the rain
My brightness will scare you
My heat burns too hot
As I eat up the debris that can’t
Be swept under a rug
But time will pass, my flames will die
Down to a steady burn
And the forest will return in time
To what it was before
And you and I will link once more
Finger by finger, hand in hand
And maybe you will squeeze too tight
And smother me in land
For a time I’ll be but embers
Without the strength for more
Suffocated by your vastness
In a cocoon of moss and dirt
Until such a time as the hand tips
Again, left and right, give and take
We will return, you and I,
In equilibrium, in harmony.
Me and you, fire and earth.
Marissa Wilkinson is an Australian writer currently studying Writing & Publishing and Creative Intelligence & Innovation at the University of Technology, Sydney. When she’s not writing, she enjoys crocheting, her cats, and crocheting in spite of her cats’ attempts at her wool.
Hot Pot Magazine 