After Fire

In a flickering corner of the cave

The hairy ape watched the flame go out.

The end of the stick was black

Still smoking with heat.

Pressed against the cavern wall

It left a black grey stain

Which went wherever the stick touched.

Not thinking, the ape discovered the line;

In those days everything was new.

They all tried

But the first line was the most admired.

Until death the ape tried to find the same pleasure

At the charred end of a stick,

Recreating all the forest

But never the original thrill.

That was left for the next generation

Who squeezed colour from the juice of berries.