My name means fire
It burns with the passion of my parents' love
For each other and for me
They found it in a cathedral on their honeymoon
Five years before I was born
And decided on the dot that they would light my candle with this flame
Regardless of my gender

It burns with my need for knowledge
I spread like my wild brethren from book to book
Devouring every word and glowing brighter with each bite

It burns with excitement about the things I love
When something amazing floats on the breeze into my eyes and ears
I burst up in a flare
And before long everyone knows what gave me oxygen and allowed me to reignite

There have been times
When my fire was but a pile of dying embers
When the floods of grief and loneliness came again and again
Ebbing and flowing with time but always there
I thought that the tides would keep changing forever
And that I would never burn with that childlike zeal again

But then
Some wind blew me further back from the water's edge
And I found friends to sit around me
And fill me up with kindling
And poke me with sticks
And cook food over me
Some of them left after only one marshmallow
But others stayed
And they're still here
Watching me glow and flare
With my desire for knowledge and passion for the inspiring
And with their love
And as long as there are a few people around my hearth
Telling stories and laughing and being together
I will always burn