Fire Poems

I.

Named Ash

Having ignited and burned away this girl

I do not now recognize the remains

grey-black named

Ash.

I lost

who I was

after

ingesting a lit match

but

the flame tasted cold

as it opened me up

II.

Burning

Just imagine

A tight grey grip of phoenix flame

Its feet are made of ashes

Its goals are taped up inside the mouth.

No one can love

Such a being,

It is not meant to be loved

And if you are trapped inside,

Just parallel to its heart-

Take this moment of in-between

Try to find a voice that is sweeter than this,

Crawl up the crumbling doubt of its throat

And sing

Firestorms and of ashes

Fertilizing an empty house

I wait within the black gape

Which is my only chance for rest

Timing release

III.

Fire Woman

She walked for miles to the flames

Never to be seen again

Women swear she wore nothing

But the briars' thorns

Embers danced above her head

Like fire flies

As children fled, forest creatures

Came to dread

The ashes in her hair

She led the fire

Over brook and stream

Swimmers damned beneath her reign

Goddess of soot, so down it rained

White grey flakes in the morning.

Ashes, ashes

And them all

Dead

the air is smoke and pall

Bodies crunched under her maul

The grey white steps of mourning

If you should ever see her wake, burned away trees

Their husks

she makes

Houses for green growth to break

Up through the cracks of springtime

Rain and dew bring life back here

But still she'll come again in years

Her blackened feet to spread the tears

Of the bodies dead or mourning

Of the bodies dead or mourning