Chub - Heartwood

No bright match,
no bold bonfire,
I am not a flash hot heat.
No fall leaf
burst to shock the senses,
no soft wood
wild fire burn.

I am heartwood
slow turn to ember
and hot coal
under your fingertips.

I am expanding energy
and deepening temperature.

My passion does not burn through and out,
but ever slowly deeper
with a heat
that could warm a man
for a lifetime.

I am not
forest fires
and lightening strikes.

I am core earth
Lava.
Tides rising,
I crack the ground
and turn to steam the hot insistent
licking of the ocean.

Do not be deceived
by the low delicate blue flame
that barely lifts from my skin.

I will mark you,
brand your heart.
My life is consumed,
not merely endured.