“Hymn for Coal Smoke

Praise the antique odor—

wood smoke compressed and marinated

in subsea strata and mountain hillsides

to a richer, sharper smell: incense

burned on an ancient, animal altar.

Praise the thready column in chilly air—

slow to dissipate, almost an entity

in-and-of itself: black stone burnt

to yellow smoke and snow-

white ash.

Praise the sweat inside the scent—

sweetness of the human animal,

salt of its labor: blood

smell in the mineral

dark.