Pele

1         The night before ...         sultry Martinique, a         tortoise shell cat         climbed, lap to pipe,         amid curbs of orange smoke.         2         Mount Pele, a         smoking hard hat         with the candle-wax of longing         gutting in paraffin for         30,000 souls sent to the Crematorium         her harbour hissing         lava foam;         even coffee beans fused into         other metal bits, a         danse macabre twittering machine,         (nature au contraire),         tortoise shell improviso with         splotched colours weaving dawn's light         & feline crouching.         3          - the curl of her island's paws         lanced in heat,         brief wisps tugging Pele's         synopsis (dark & smouldering), with         cat eyes glowing         up the mountain dark         into vegetative whiskers.         4         Pull of my pipe full leap of centuries         before the bite of the stem         dumped fire again