Flame | Teen Ink

Flame MAG

December 1, 2008
By Anonymous

I watch this flame pass
from match to wick,
gently stepping over
a great divide.
This flame and I
are not so different:
it comes into being from nothingness;
it eats and grows, smokes, and rests.
It gets angry,
destroys homes,
consumes flesh.
Sated, it becomes calm,
retreats into coals,
smoldering through the night.
Domesticated
by a piece of string,
it makes its home in a cave of wax.
It chases the shadows away
and stands watch through the night.
It sways
and dances in the darkness
before it is extinguished
in the blink
of an eye.


The author's comments:
What inspired me to write this was: my life resembles a candle light. Bright at times, then it completely turns around and I feel dark, sad, and abandoned. I hope whoever reads this will feel what I felt, and not judge, but understand. Thank you.

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This article has 293 comments.


on May. 26 2011 at 10:22 am
Monkee63 SILVER, Independence, Kentucky
9 articles 0 photos 45 comments

Favorite Quote:
"I want to feel my life while I'm in it"- Meryl Streep
"Live, Life Love"
"Everybody wants happiness, nobody wants pain, but you can't have a rainbow without a little rain."

This poem is really relatable...I know how that feels to go from being bright and happy to dark and sad.

on May. 1 2011 at 1:10 pm
PrettyLittleDarling SILVER, Taylorsville, Kentucky
8 articles 0 photos 9 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Sweatpants, hair tied, chillin with no make up on, that's when you the prettiest, I hope you dont take it wrong" Drake

perfect is the way to describe this peiece

 


Apeggy BRONZE said...
on Apr. 16 2011 at 5:31 pm
Apeggy BRONZE, Albion, New York
3 articles 0 photos 42 comments

Favorite Quote:
A.B.D"A Beautiful Dream"

I think this poem describes everyones life at one point in time. Great wording, i love it!

on Apr. 15 2011 at 9:18 pm
little-miss-mistakes GOLD, Plano, Texas
18 articles 2 photos 70 comments

Favorite Quote:
even after all these years the sun has never said to the earth, you owe me... look at what a love like that can do, it can light up the sky

love this love this love love love this!!!! GREAT JOB!!!

on Apr. 15 2011 at 2:19 pm
thinkofsomethingbetter GOLD, Tallmadge, Ohio
10 articles 0 photos 35 comments

Favorite Quote:
in short, being vegen just makes you better then everyone else.
- scott pilgrim vs the world. best movie ever!

your my new fav person. ever. i really liked this because you said what alot of depressed people cant find the words to say. myself included. thank you(:

GraceSanchez said...
on Apr. 15 2011 at 1:34 pm
GraceSanchez, Bronx, New York
0 articles 0 photos 7 comments
This poem is nicely written :D ilove it.

on Apr. 15 2011 at 12:56 pm
massiekur BRONZE, Huntington, West Virginia
2 articles 0 photos 6 comments
beautiful. it's the perfect comparison.

on Apr. 15 2011 at 12:36 pm
rubyrainstorm SILVER, Closter, New Jersey
7 articles 0 photos 275 comments

Favorite Quote:
Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.
-Buddha.

This poem was beautifully written. I love your writing style! If you can, please check out and comment on my first poem, The Girl Inside. Thanks!

on Mar. 24 2011 at 8:15 pm
to.hold.the.sun SILVER, Maryville, Tennessee
9 articles 0 photos 49 comments

Favorite Quote:
"You spend your whole life stuck in the labyrinth, thinking about how you'll escape it one day, and how awesome it will be, and imagining that future keeps you going, but you never do it. You just use the future to escape the present." -John Green

Amazing :) I actually wrote something similar to this, about how happiness is about a match, how it flares brightly at the beginning then dies. It's still pending approval though :/

Anyway, yours is great. Very sensory and descriptive. And I completely agree.


on Mar. 24 2011 at 7:37 pm
edgeofnight BRONZE, Buenos Aires, Other
4 articles 0 photos 15 comments

Favorite Quote:
“If ever there is tomorrow when we're not together.. there is something you must always remember. you are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. but the most important thing is, even if we're apart.. i'll always be with you.”

Beautiful 

on Mar. 24 2011 at 6:40 pm
callie15 BRONZE, North Plains, Oregon
3 articles 21 photos 424 comments

Favorite Quote:
"I dreamed I was a butterfly, flitting around in the sky; then I awoke. Now I wonder: Am I a man who dreamt of being a butterfly, or am I a butterfly dreaming that I am a man?"
-Chuang Tzu

"No man with a good car needs to be justified!"
-Wise Blood

did you, by any chance, read the author's comment about this poem? that might clear some things up for you...

on Mar. 24 2011 at 6:36 pm
callie15 BRONZE, North Plains, Oregon
3 articles 21 photos 424 comments

Favorite Quote:
"I dreamed I was a butterfly, flitting around in the sky; then I awoke. Now I wonder: Am I a man who dreamt of being a butterfly, or am I a butterfly dreaming that I am a man?"
-Chuang Tzu

"No man with a good car needs to be justified!"
-Wise Blood

everyone pretty much said it. great job! brava!

on Mar. 24 2011 at 11:56 am
abstractminded GOLD, Beaumont, Texas
17 articles 0 photos 38 comments

Favorite Quote:
when life throws you lemons....throw back grenades

superb poem and can You plz read mines as well...they're really good i promise lol plus how do u and did u get yours published on mags and stuff???

on Mar. 24 2011 at 7:34 am
this was a graet poem. it was awsome

on Mar. 6 2011 at 6:03 pm
lillypelt12 BRONZE, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas
1 article 0 photos 2 comments

Favorite Quote:
Anything by Dr. Susse

Truly amazing! I can relate completly.

on Mar. 2 2011 at 8:40 am
ShelbyMarie93 PLATINUM, Lexington, Nebraska
35 articles 1 photo 62 comments

Favorite Quote:
"When Death to either shall come -- I pray it be first to me." ~Robert Bridges
or
"Life is not a jump; it's a headfirst dive."
or
"Within you I lose myself; without you I find myself wanting to be lost again."

╔══╗
╚╗╔╝
╔╝(¯`v´¯)
╚══`.¸.Isaac H.

Amazing work! And really nice metaphor too! You have great talent!

on Mar. 1 2011 at 1:12 am
bookdevourer101 BRONZE, Peoria, Arizona
4 articles 0 photos 13 comments

Favorite Quote:
Remember, today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.

Amazing work! I abseloutely love it when poets can find such meaningful things in objects we as people normally don't take a second glance at. Beautiful words and descriptions.

on Feb. 9 2011 at 1:30 pm
Internal-Love PLATINUM, Queens, New York
33 articles 3 photos 310 comments

Favorite Quote:
Nothing's black or white, its all just a shade of gray---

















TI "Live your Life" ft Rihanna

i like reading poems. i liked reading this one. Words so simple, with a meaning behind it.

 


on Feb. 9 2011 at 11:31 am
springdance BRONZE, Hebron, New Hampshire
2 articles 0 photos 23 comments

Favorite Quote:
Before God we are all equally wise - and equally foolish.
Albert Einstein

I understand completely. Life is so unpredictable. Right now, I'm going through the darkness, without a candle to light my path. I hope that you keep writing and inspiring other people. 

Gigantron GOLD said...
on Feb. 8 2011 at 2:42 pm
Gigantron GOLD, Somewhere, Texas
11 articles 0 photos 36 comments

Favorite Quote:
"There is a fundamental difference between religion, which is based on authority (imposed dogma, faith), [as opposed to] science, which is based on observation and reason. Science will win because it works."

-Stephen Hawking

I like this poem because it pertains to fire.

I like fire.