Touching fire

I am standing here at a crossroad with one bone in each hand,
one telling me to be myself...the other one telling me who I am.
I listen carefully to the words they say and notice that somehow I do not fit...
between the cracks of complacency, and the urge to resist.

My lines they blur and sometimes break leaving me undefined,
in a lazy haze of images that never fade to passing time.
I see blazes of glorious colors to my right and to my left,
but for some reason when I look forward I only see the past I can not forget.

Turning back I see a charcoal sky still burning with my desire...
to stop standing witness and to finally touch the fire.
I know that I may burn tonight but just the chance that I may not...
has me falling to my shaking knees cursing all that I have lost.

If you look at me close you will see it glowing from within,
dancing like the flame it is and begging me to let it live.
Why in every way does my soul beg me to surrender,
to choices I left unmade and all the lessons that I do not remember.

I dig into the earth until in front of me sits a hole vast and dark...
created by the desperation that has been building from the start.
I place the bones inside the hole and watch the earth crumble in my wake,
as I fill the vast darkness with all of my regrets all of my mistakes.

Finally I stand, the ground now solid beneath my feet...
supported by all the same trials that once tried to judge me.
The fire inside me grows bigger now...reaches out to touch my skin,
in a happy kind of violence that makes it so easy to finally give in.

For just a few moments I am the brightest that I will ever be...
Smiling proudly from the stars as I let the fire consume me.

Reviews

[Malister Mikey]

I remember you reading me this piece with such passion and I loved to read it to feel its message once more.

[Jamie R. Robillard Sr.]

Absolutely brilliant. I love this piece. This is truly great art.

[Jessica Lynn Polley]

Thank you so much Uncle I thought you would like this one. :)

[Erika]

Beautiful write. Your use of diction is prominent and draws in your audience. :)

[Jessica Fronter]

Very nice poem. :) Loved the way you expressed the emotions.

[Blogger]

You are a talented poet. This write seems to get better and better as it goes along.

[Frontier]

Hey Jessica!

I must say this was outstanding! The ending is reminiscent of Frankenstein, how the monster allows himself to finally perish amidst the flames. The flow and rhyming was great. The sort of meta-physical or meta-psychical grief and disappointment you present is engaging. Seems like someone coming to terms with a sort of absolute final liberation.

[Lyn Anderson]

This really has a lot of great elements to it. Lovely imagery, strong emotions. I love the happy kind of violence line. One thing, I would suggest saying "if you look at me closely you will see a glow from within" -- but, as always, you may have reasons for posting it the way it is.

[Jessica Lynn Polley]

I wanted the glow to seem like it was in actoin like in motion you know what I mean...If I does not come across like that than I should change it. I just did not want it to seem like a light bulb more like a flame.

[Jessica Lynn Polley]

p.s. the happy kind of violence line is also my favorite. :)

[Lyn Anderson]

Hmm, interesting about the glowing. I would have to think on that.

[Jake Donald Stephens]

Wow, you really painted an out of this world picture in this one! In a good way, of course.
Some feelings are confusing, and we never figure out what to do about them. Someone once said the only way to get rid of a temptation is to give in to it.
I could really see and feel what you were expressing here. Thanks for sharing, as always.

[Jessica Lynn Polley]

I am so glad you like it. I really like what you said about temptation because I feel like that is the kind of message I was getting at.
p.s. I want to read another one of your books...I really loved both Cliff and Liz and the Cult...so what is suggestion of what I should read next? Which one is your favorite?
p.p.s. How is that second book to the Cult coming along?

[Jake Donald Stephens]

The first 3 chapters of Back to the Shack are posted, but they're old, and I'm gonna tweak them some, probably to make Charlotte deaf. I really, really need reviews on The Purple Rift. I definitely want to continue it, but it would help to know whether what I've got so far makes sense or not, lol. Also, Light and Dark is another one I haven't gotten much feedback on. It isn't a direct prequel to the Cult, but it does contain Keith's parents. See if you can figure out who they are. :)