Riff On Allen Steble's 'There's A Fire Burning In My Eyes's Poem by David McLansky

There’s a ember glowing in my eyes
That flickers in the chill
A light that threatens soon to die
If it were not for my will.

Your breath of love flows across my face
And drops a silent tear
Fearful that a sudden wind
Will make me disappear;

Yet that coal burns in my eye
Beneath a skin of ash,
Alive and trying not to die,
To be extinguished at the last;

My love tells me to please hold on
My eye blazes with desire
What will you do when I am gone
And my yearning soul expired?

You will live on as widows do
Remembering loving days
Recalling my burning love of you
Through a smoky haze.