from the start, a feeling i Couldn't understand.
a deep pang of fire                 shOved to the pit of my core.
no longer able to               igNore it . . .dismiss it . . .
i allow the                                    Fire to swallow me whole. befriend the flames and embers, sparks . . .
this newness & possibiLities endless . . . .
this overwhelming sense of belongIng and familiarity . . . . . . . . .
never once hesitating, never onCe thinking it wrong . . . . .
blind . . .naive . . .gulible . . .weak . . .They say of me . . . . . . . . . . . .
my once companion, reduced to monstEr . . .familiar stranger in a sea of gray faces.                                     Doomed as merely passersby.
a door once open wide, warm, & welcome . . .
gated, bolted, chained, and locked.
not only you but both of us, sent to exile . . .
followed, followed, followed, blocked.

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