burning on

burning on
29 october 2014
Thames

burning_monet — **Claude Monet, ‘Autumn Effects at Argenteuil’, 1873, with acknowledgements to dailyartmagazine.com for use of this image.**

the sky was
grey and low
the smoke was
of the sky
the flames of the
garden fire burning
were richly of
the earth
the woman was
tidying up the garden
gathering up gloved
armfuls of dry
branch the cat
was helping in a
silly way balancing
along the rim of the
tipped-over wheelbarrow
falling off into the
long grass
the flames wove
a stitch of the
hidden sun into
the day
that felt slow
and gentle
while you
sat there
watching
the cloud like
a low tide world
raised to the
heavens
the fire
poking its
way on
into the
afternoon

The music for the reading is from No. 1 ‘Angelus! – Prière aux anges gardiens’ from the ‘Années de pèlerinage, troisième année, S163 (1877)’ by Franz Liszt and interpreted here by Jeno Jando.