Citrus

Photo from cher-homespun.blogspot.com

curled orange peels singed by blue flames
lift their fragrant identity
up throughout long-shuttered rooms
chasing musty ghosts eager to leave
through the new-opened windows
that once muffled sounds of their sins

burning fruit on the altar of past
indiscretion helps usher
a ritual cleansing
a freshening drawn through the rafters
and beams that allows this old structure
its welcome collapse into purity

transplantation of timbers now
animates lives gentle carpenters
work to refurbish
old millwork frames fresh scented character
carried with dignity knowing
that damnable site now breathes free