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(Watercolor done by JKB to illustrate “Night Fire Road”)
NIGHT FIRE ROAD
Sharp right into mystery,
Down black macadam churning
The guts and apprehension,
Pot-holed surface falling
Either side into waterlogged ditches.
Hurtling towards a tunnel
Of dark, smothering trees,
Deep in the mountain.
–
This is Night Fire Road
Spiraling down and up
Like the dark flames of its name.
Tires dumped in the tar of night
Maybe a car or two
Stolen, torched,
Liquor bottles christening the
Games of drunken fools.
–
Maybe it was meant
To be named for foxfire—
Bioluminescence come down from
The borders of Heaven
A gleaming fool’s gold
Only appearing at night
To tease greed and imagination.
–
Or perhaps it was named
For the illicit meetings
Of furtive lovers
Who shun daylight
And go enflame passion on
Night Fire Road.
–
Jane Kohut-Bartels
Copyrighted, 2017
Tags: "Night Fire Road", Autumn, d'versepoets pub.com, poetry
Lady Nyo's Weblog 
October 5, 2018 at 12:26 am
“Night Fire Road” – what a great name. You have described it beautifully – love the painting.
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October 5, 2018 at 1:25 am
That is some road deep into the mountain. I would like to believe it’s a road for illicit meetings of all sorts. Thanks for joining in Jane.
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October 5, 2018 at 3:22 am
Thank you, Grace. Good to be back.
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October 5, 2018 at 3:23 am
Thank you, V.J. Knutson.
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October 5, 2018 at 6:07 am
Such a beautiful name, Night Fire Road, Jane, and so dark and perilous, with its pot holes, ditches and tunnel o dark, smothering trees. I love the phrase ‘Tires dumped in the tar of night’ and the lines:
‘Or perhaps it was named
For the illicit meetings
Of furtive lovers
Who shun daylight
And go enflame passion on
Night Fire Road’.
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October 5, 2018 at 1:55 pm
You are welcome.
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October 5, 2018 at 3:26 pm
Hi Kim! I too, was taken by the name. I don’t think you even have to go down that road. Imagination is enough, and probably TOO much. LOL! Thank you, Kim.
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October 6, 2018 at 6:27 am
That is an unusual name for a road. I prefer your last stanza’s interpretation of why it was called that. Beautiful watercolor. I especially like the yellow-orange in the road drawing one’s attention to it..
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October 6, 2018 at 7:00 am
Thank you, Frank! I am slow this week but will get to your lovely blog. I am so glad you read this poem, one of my favorites. And yes, only in the South would you find such a name! I rarely have a chance to do a painting for a poem but that one begged for paint. “The Kimono” is now (as of last week) on Amazon.com and I am thrilled at how it looks. And reads. LOL! I had forgotten the humor in this book! It gives great relief to battles and gore! Thank you, Frank. Good to read you.
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October 6, 2018 at 2:19 pm
The contrast between the name and the reality of dumped cars and tires is great… I prefer the illicit meetings and the foxgloves *smiles*
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October 6, 2018 at 2:38 pm
Hi Bjorn! That’s foxfire…which is the bio luminance of rotting wood, etc. in the moonlight. There was a pile of this looking down from my childhood home in the countryside of Princeton. It only appeared at night, and probably when there was a moon out. When I (as a child) went down and outside to investigate….there was nothing except some tree limbs at were piled on the ground. I remember this from my childhood. Night Fire Road is an unusual name for any road. But it just throws glamour (veiled stuff) and mystery. Thank you, Bjorn.
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October 6, 2018 at 2:40 pm
Oh yes foxfire… I have only seen bioluminescence in the sea.
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October 6, 2018 at 2:43 pm
Oh! Well, at least you have seen it…on land or see, it’s fascinating. I have seen the aurora borealis only once…when it dipped down into central New Jersey when I was a child. The sky was black with green ribbons. Amazing!
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October 6, 2018 at 10:16 pm
to tease greed and imagination is such a temptation that road is often taken recklessly .
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October 6, 2018 at 10:30 pm
With a name like that I would think so
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October 6, 2018 at 10:34 pm
absolutely! like a drink that promises so much more!
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