Courtyard Fire
by Arthur Sze

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At autumn equinox,
we make a fire
in the courtyard: sparks

gust into the black air,
and all seasons are enfolded
in these flames:

snow gathers and tips the lilac twigs;
a stinkhorn rises
out of the dirt below a waterspout;

ants climb the peony stalks;
and, gazing into coals,
I skydive and pass through

stages of youth: at first,
I climb a tower and,
looking out, find the world tipped;

then I dash through halls:
if ripening is all,
what can the dead teach us?

We who must rage and lust,
hurtle zigzagging between cars
in traffic, affirm

the call to abandon illusions
is a call to abandon
a condition that requires illusions;

and, as I pull the cord,
spring rips and blooms;
on landing, I sway on earth.

"Courtyard Fire" by Arthur Sze, from SIGHT LINES by Arthur Sze. Copyright © 2019 by Arthur Sze. Used by permission of Copper Canyon Press.