Tierra del Fuego by Paul Ilechko

Fires burn constantly
in the south lands. The stink
of sulphur and the churn
of smoke against the blank
white fields of snow.
The harshest storm might bellow
against a sluicing downpour,
yet still the blaze chugs on,
measuring the sky
with a calligraphy of blackness.
Meanwhile, inside a lonely barn,
the poet writes his elliptical verses,
erasing the words of his ancestor
and serving up his remains.

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Paul Ilechko is the author of the chapbook “Bartok in Winter” (Flutter Press, 2018). His work has appeared in a variety of journals, including Stickman Review, Mocking Heart Review, Slag Review, Oberon and Saint Katherine Review. He lives in Lambertville, NJ, with his girlfriend and a cat.

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