Joseph Farley edited Axe Factory for 24 years. His books/chapbooks include Suckers, For the Birds, Longing for the Mother Tongue, and Waltz of the Meatballs.
Central Heating
By Joe Farley
By Joe Farley
The furnace speaks in fire tongues.
It is easy to listen in a soft chair
beside the vent above the heat,
ignoring ice and wind outside.
The conversation covers much,
things unsaid on other days
when the chatter of birds
drowned out the spring.
The carnivals of summer
have long packed up
and moved away
to warmer places you don’t go.
The crackle tells you
the secrets of those years,
as you smile and nod,
acquiescing to sleep.
If fumes should take
you there to stay,
that will be as fine and good
as seeing another winter morning.
