Beware

I was alone in the dark

no sense of up or down

disoriented

detached

You appeared as a spark of light

on the other side

of forever

The only choice I had, really

was to draw closer.

Orient my path

to your light.

The first steps were slow,

wary.

I kept my eyes on you,

and you hypnotized me.

You colored my face amber

and beckoned gently.

I drew closer.

In your glow

I became warm.

Golden and loved.

You became a fixed point

and the darkness,

gone.

This would've been the place to stay,

at a safe distance to see but not know.

Foolishly, I drew closer.

Understanding the certainty of destruction,

I reached out my hand

and tried to hold the white hot blue.

It burned.

God, it burned in the best way.

Your lantern became my inferno,

my darkness would never be the same.

But as I melted,

you burned out.

Snuffed out.

Choked off.

You left me in the ashes of myself.

Darkness became awareness-

and like the proverbial

Phoenix

I rose again.