I sit beside the fire and think,
thoughts fleeting yet still so distinct.
So many things pass through my mind,
some harsh, some soft, some cruel, some kind.

Popping wood and flickering flames,
so many long forgotten names.
Burning bright for all its life,
Does this fire share our strife?

Feed the flames or they die out,
without a whimper or a shout.
Flashing color, fleeting thought,
In the end, all for naught.

If the fire burns, it remains,
going on despite the pains.
If I think, I am still here,
going on despite the tears.

I sit beside the fire and think of all that I have seen.
I look upon the flames and see people I have known,
People I have loved, people I have lost.
Memories swirl through my mind like the smoke from the fire,
Drifting away, or choking me.

I try not to have regrets, but I fail.
Lives I have affected for better or worse,
Lives that affected me.
The memories haunt my psyche, dancing across my brain,
Like the fire I sit beside, as I think.

I sit beside the fire and think
As the world fades and shrinks
Away from me and my thoughts
Leaving behind feelings of distraught

The light of the fire dances
It flares and sparks me into a trance
The colors bright and glowing
Reminds me on times foregoing

In the dark of the night
The fire is my only light
Yet the warmth I feel it not
For the memories none I forgot