Regarding a bonfire

Christian Century, Nov 7, 2001 by Bill Stadick

Regarding a bonfire

   I am joined this crisp evening by an ant
   stepping around my tennis shoe, several
   birds gossiping to my left and a flame
   that wanders up a branch like the Holy
   Ghost with no particular place to be.
   After loitering ten or so minutes,
   it works its way back to the primary wood.
   What was it thinking, taking that side trip,
   that entirely unauthorized amble?
   I think this must be how amazing grace
   consumed my black soul thirty years ago,
   as a mad camp, a pleasant diversion
   that would only be defended later
   by two sentences as unconvincing
   as they are unassailable: I don't know.
   I guess I just sort of you know, felt like it.