Kindling
When there are wildfires raging in your backyard, the last thing you want is a break-up with your boyfriend.
When fires burn too hot, too fast
they die out
left without oxygen
and foliage to burn —
The wood was too loosely packed,
the pine too thin and dry
without a solid foundation to build upon,
and no nice, hard wood
to foster a slow, hot burn.
We were too eager
for it to work this once
that we didn’t invest the time
into making it sustainable
and here we stand
a wildfire now out of hand
when we could’ve worked up to it
could’ve maintained our friendship,
rather than fitting a circle
inside of a square
in the hopes that it would grow edges
we would still be here
tending this fire
yet we are racing
to find shelter in opposite directions
quick to get away from each other,
and all the destruction we’ve released.
Walking would’ve been okay
taking our time to find
a space where a little spark
wouldn’t cast flames astray
and burnt up this whole place
when did you realize that your feet were not solid?
that they were shaking in the ground?
the false clarity of yourself
came crashing down
as fiery limbs of a tree
in a burning forest
You set yourself aflame, because
you didn’t do the work to get to this space,
you came half-full of memories
of a broken childhood,
dispersed family,
and liquid solutions
that you never lost the taste for
you made it unbearable to stay here
with your sharp criticisms
and impulsive decisions
that didn’t include the preservation of the land
that is my body and the temple that is my mind
a small fire would’ve been enough
to kinder the growth of our spirits
and now we’ve let this forest burn
ashes and ashes and ashes
from which we cannot return
