Fire in an Old Man's Heart

This is a poem I wrote, and I'm submitting it as part of my creative writing project for class. If anyone could give me feedback and/or suggestions for it that would help me out a lot! Thanks :)

Crackling,
popping, like his back
after a long day's work.
The burning, smoking of his stare
when he loses sight
of God.

The wood burning does not last
forever. He is constantly putting more on.
The soot and dirt covering his hands like the sin
he doesn't let on bothers him, and yet
he is always washing,
wishing.

He is a good man, he works hard,
but no matter how hard he tries,
the fire always goes out,
always dies.
He never knows what he's doing wrong
but always places his trust above,
to lead him to where there is no more smoke,
no more flames.

Reviews

[Ghiasquared]

I like the theme and the way you utilized the fire and God here. I feel like there are four stanzas here. It seems separating between "always dies." and "He never knows" would work. Maybe some punctuation work, but it may be how I'm reading it as each writer feels the pauses in different places etc. It's helpful to read it aloud using inflection and emotion, that way you get the full effect of the story and you will feel where the pauses and stops are.

It's good though, I'll give you that.

[Coyote Poetry]

Poem is very good. I could feel the struggle to find good in a life. I like the ending. You wrote a poem with purpose and reason. A outstanding poem.
Coyote