White on White

We're all speaking into the fire 

You say something to me-

I watch the words slip past your teeth, only to be lapped up by one of the fire's unwinding arms, grasping for the sky

Indiscriminately pulling every molecule of oxygen into itself,

Mistaking our conversation for another breath of life

Greedily wrenching the molecules out of every careless word passed between us 

In exchange for the murmur of its orange glow