Please understand that I recognize all the dangers,
But it’s my own cowardice keeping me away.
That, and her iced hair and bon fire heart.
But I have a bon fire in my heart too,
And it fills my lungs with its smoke and crawls
Out of the gap between my front teeth,
Sweeping through the atmosphere that drives you
From me. I can feel the flames lick my veins
And sing my name in your voice,
Pleading for release but knowing there is none.
The smell of black ash follows me, making you
Mistake me for a log of oak, burned and charred
In the midst of my own coal heart.