The piece of fragrant

wood burns down in

the fire pit along the

shores of Lake Huron

in Michigan’s thumb.

The embers glow red-

orange and the wood

looks like a dried out

corn cob with blazing

kernels or really bad

teeth in a really big

mouth – dirty, dried out

orange teeth that glow

so ghoulishly beautiful in

the October night and

then turn chalky white.

Looking up at the

full moon, he decides

it is time to go into

the camper and read

one more Sunbeam

in The Sun before

falling asleep. It’s

Kurt Vonnegut’s Sun-

beam: “If people think

that nature is their friend,

then they sure don’t

need an enemy.” He

locks the door for the

night, looks out the

window at the shrivel-

ed teeth in the dying

embers, the full-

moon and the darkness

in the forest beyond.