it started with a cinder
that smoldered beneath my skin
one burning little ember
was how it did begin

a fire lit inside me
with flames so white with heat
and it crept along my fingers
and from my head down to my feet

I became but ashes
when your fire did burn out
a girl became a tortured frame
my body a ruined house

and now the wind has swept me
from the east coast to the west
all evidence erased
in one wily tempest