You can’t have a little jar of wind
or a bowl of lake.
No such thing as a pet cloud
or a private wave 
or a corner in the living room 
just for moonlight.

But you can have
your very own furious fire
right next you
as you read and gaze 
and sift your thoughts 
through cognac.

Having a fire is like 
having a caged tiger.
If you don’t feed it
it will die.
If it escapes confinement
it can eat you alive.

But it is not your friend or lover
and you know this on a winter day
holding your glass in both hands.
You know this because fire
you can get back
anytime it goes away.

—From Across My Silence (World Audience, Inc., 2007). First published in Main Channel Voices (Winter 2007); republished here by author’s permission.

Bio: Jack Cooper