The Seasons of Fire

 There is Law for Fire,
singing for Fire,
dancing for Fire -
Fire Dreaming.
You have been there, you have seen it.
You know all the names of Fire:
signal fires, hunting fires,
sleeping fires, fires for light,
fires for cooking, for ceremonies,
healing fires of eucalyptus leaves -
Fire is medicine,   magic.
        Fire gave Crow a voice,
flying away in pain.
Fire brings old quarrels to an end.
On top of Uluru,    do not drink
at the rockhole of Warnampi
unless you take Fire
or the Snake will bite your spirit
and drought will follow.
Fire can protect you from the dead ones.
 
You have been there, you have seen them.
You know all this Fire.
 
The penis is Fire.
The vagina is Fire.
Fire is inside the bodies of animals.
The woman hands a firestick to the boy
and he becomes a man.
There is a time for every fire.
The fires of January are different
from the fires of June.
In the cold time, a small nudge before sleep
will keep the flame alive all night.
The right ash, the right heat,
the right position of wind, dune and saltbush:
a technology of Fire. The knowledge.
 
You have been there, you have watched.
You know all the seasons of Fire.
 
 Hawk stopped Bush Turkey
throwing Fire into the sea.
Fire cannot be stolen now;   it lives
everywhere  -  inside the spinifex and dry wood.
All this is Law.
"The smoking days" - Buyuguyunya - come every year.
The air is full of smoke.
The smoke comes first, then the fire,
then the smoke...
All this is Law.
Hot is more than two sticks rubbed together; and
no chopping - take only what you can drag:
green wood for shelter;
dead pieces for waru.
The wind from the mouth works kindling.
Fire makes grass seed.
It finds the kangaroo    and chases him
to the hunters.
All this is Law.
The burning off and the gathering together are one.
 
You have been there, you have seen it.
You know all the seasons of Fire. 

© Billy Marshall Stoneking