Afterimage

This fuse may weld or wed,

cut or cauterize, as it dissolves
what was. The torch’s arc can turn
even steel (slag-sparks excepted)
and persists if submerged–
though the spectacle demands
more than brine or air, more
than that which merely exists–

blinding those it lures.

Originally published in The Cincinnati Review

Photo by Alvaro E. Duran