How I learned fire burns

Nights are cold 
I find alone
And distant here and there
The firelight of others
Two people huddled
Close in each other’s glow

I imitate them best 
I can forage
Build up the wood
Strike the rock
Still I sit in the dark

I need the right sticks
I tell myself
The perfect leaves
Strike the rock 
In that expert way that for others 
Comes so easy

At last an offered branch
That feels so sure
Sturdy in my hand
And certain of warmth 
We build our hearth 
We strike our spark

We watch with joy
As a small flame
Dances hypnotically into life

How could I know
Such a fragile thing 
When winds howl
And clouds crash
I throw myself onto the hearth
To keep the embers alive

I wake in ashes 
Ever after
Alone in darkness 
With a flame shaped scar 
On my heart