Which one do you FALL under?
LIKE me for me or
ALTER me if you will
MEMORIES is what makes us
EXISTENCE is what keeps us
SEEING is believing

I sat alone
the train car bouncing
and saw the flash of red

Perhaps if not
I might just be
Going out of my head

However it's true
the crimson blaze
that was set before my eyes

I watched the world
get burned to ash
yet I don't feel surprised

This dreading feel
That pours within
from the depths of my soul

Takes me o'er
And leads my out
assuming all control

As horsemen clad
In various garb
pour from within the flame

I hear a voice
call out to me
so violent and yet so plain

The voice tells me
That I must run
lest I face my doom

Still i'm enticed
To further on
into the smoky fumes

I fall to the ground
my head on the dirt
body and mind both numb

You see my love
the horsemen sang
the end has already come

it’s not that i was
made this way
it’s that i was forged
in the fires this way

born
blank
formless
ready to become
something
someone

raised behind
fragile glass walls
they tapped on
and i could not
defend myself without
cracking the seal
and being blamed
for destruction

until one day
the fire came
burning around my feet
and i had
to get
out

i smashed the glass
shards in my fists
blood on my knuckles
and i’ve been fighting
ever since
that day

i was not
supposed to be this way
i was supposed to be
a fragile china doll
but this is who
i ended up

a fighter
a warrior
an impudent
little girl who
doesn’t know
when to quit

supposed to faint
at the sight of blood
not be someone who
seeks it out

supposed to be
meek
and mild
mousy

not loud
and bouncy
chatty
impulsive
or daresay
even funny

but i am
a fighter
and i will not
be stopped
i refuse to be
walked over
for any longer
than i already have

and taking my
power back means
sometimes i must
punch
sometimes i must
snarl
bare my teeth and
sharpen my nails

but it also means
sometimes i must
stand
with all the power
i know i possess
underneath the
surface
hold it back

allow my spine
to straighten
and my shoulders
to stretch

remember words like
imposing
badass
competent
and for all i have felt
that i take up too
much space in this
body of mine
i am this size because
nothing smaller
could contain
what i have inside

let my full
height rise
and my full
weight surmise
to anyone and
everyone that i

might not always spit
fire and flames
but there is a furnace
roaring at my feet

All the hopes and dreams I used to have
All the happiness in my heart
My will to live
All up in flames
All because of one letter
On a piece of paper
Called a grade

All my trust
My ability to love
My willingness to open up
The key to my heart
All up in flames
All because of one heartbreak
All because of him

My life, set on fire
My life, all up in flames

crimson hair on soft pillows
like flames on water
darkness felt like home to us,
spending each night
talking to the stars
your teeth tracing my veins
my touch
enough to contort you.
our nights became ritualistic
your pulse pushing out your skin
shadows finding shadows
your demons meeting mine,
the moon was burning
my heart on fire
you are my muse.

Everything was on fire. The bright red-orange flames danced about lapping at his legs and arms but didn’t burn. Black smoke swirled around him, beckoning him to breathe in letting it fill up his lungs. There was screaming in the distance but he couldn’t make out the words. The flames had him hypnotized by their beautiful dance

in a moment of intoxication;
a moment of weakness.
i broke a promise to myself.
a promise i've made to you
a hundred times before.
never again becomes
always again.
this is the last time, please                            promise me that.

you know me better than i do
and you know i can't say no,
never to you.
i need an escape,
but how do i get away?
                                                           ­             you won't let me go.
my promises become a reaction,
or better yet-
a threat.
a weak one at that.
it's not about the promises you make;
but how well you keep them.
and i've kept mine,
as well as you've kept                                             away.