NIGHT OF THE FIRE
by
Ali C.
Ali C is a poet from England. NIGHT OF THE FIRE is his debut chapbook. Ali is an Emerging Creative Associate at New Writing North for 2025. Learn more at www.alixyz.club .
Street Address
City, State, Zip
Phone Number
from NIGHT OF THE FIRE
We found a sky so blue it ached,
clutched sand in the creases of our
hands like it was ours to keep.
Prayed, kneeled, didn’t kiss. Your fingers
knotted around a brown ale bottle &
I imagined them on these lips, your
name my half-uttered secret.
Twelve hands on the clock
and I’ve been with you through
every hour, still feels like I’ve
only known you for
one. The pendulum of waiting:
I am not sure how much
more strain my heart can
take. The red wine—so
delicious. The night, too.
Scribbled a love poem
on your cheek, tucked away
a tuft of your hair, pocketed
you, my American dream, like
a stone made heavier by rain.
Played your photo to the Lana
song about fishes & the bayou,
and I wonder how the
sky finds comfort in being
bound to the earth when
she doesn’t ever dress herself.
Our train tickets expire but we
talk. Your heart lags behind
mine, but I can romanticise even
dying things. Your love
expires & still I stack my heart
delicately in your palms,
gift you my pulse if you
promise to live through me.
Tide runs like threads through
your fingers, so familiar
in your hands, still it bleeds.