In the daily quarrel
When words fall upon ****** and deaf ears
Repetition is agitating
Boiling beneath the flesh
Festering like a toxin of lingering potency
Snaking its way into the corners of the mind
Push it down, cast it away
Do not allow the flames to become you

Gripping tightly
Perhaps too much so
As it snaps beneath the pressure
Only a fraction made visible
The rest to be silenced
Only audible for one mind
Screaming and thrashing
Just beneath the surface

Stain the paper
Clutch the fragments
Dispose of the now useless thing
Punishment surely to ensue
For breaking things isn’t the answer they like

Purse your lips
Bite your tongue
Until it bleeds

Clench your fists
Knuckles white
Ding your nails into your palms

Walk away
Hold the chaos at bay
Pull the chain
For fighting would only be in vain
Causing nothing put pain
None, of which, for the enemy

Seething in a soundless cage
Is the inextinguishable rage
Fed in every passing day
Relentless, and you know what they say;
There is no rest for the wicked

Push me far enough
And I will not hold back
Break me enough
And I will become the monster you made me
Uncaged, unleashed
My tongue dripping acidic poison
My eyes visions of flames
My arms stained with well-worn lies
My hands red with “discipline”
My feet tired from running
My hair wild and untamed as a storm cloud
My clothes holding me tighter than a withheld breath
My will stronger than the iron fist wielded upon me

Let me go
Let me walk away
Before I let it all go
The raging fire I hold at bay.

- Jay M
April 6th, 2021

i rewind my watch so many times
grasping the leather for a touch of magic
to bring back all that we once had

the lights illuminate the night sky
and i watch from the carnival ride
reminded of the last time we had stood here

as tonight goes down in flames
i cannot help but hope this is how we die
young and dumb and unafraid

the two of us are both in someone else's arms
separated by a sea and a telephone wire
you would have told me to be brave

The fire surrounding me couldn’t get hotter
The pain is starting to make even breathing harder
Beads of sweat and tears of agony fall towards my feet
But evaporate before they can touch the ground
Another walk through hell is just beginning
No turning back, and pausing only means more hurting
So I look forward and let the music fill my ears
And dance my way through to celebrate the fact
That it’s never getting worse than this

Again, as I wonder what life is about,
it'd seem the fighting never ends.
The war flames keep burning, inside and out.
Over, all around me they ascend.
Here as I'm crying out, with a heart sick with hate!
Do you still see me as your friend?
Time is running out and I cannot just wait!
For against myself I can't defend.

we hold our breaths watching
shadows dance around violet candles
the air is hot and humid and
filled with unspoken confessions

the flames flicker with visions
of all the stories we could create
under a cloak of sweat and fire
dreams of love become one with desire

let me light another candle

the purple one, for its scent
even thousands of miles away
if there is one thing i know, it is this:
lavender will always remind me of you

The ***-bellied Mercedes squealed
As Meursault withdrew and
Marvelled at the flames
Licking
The air
Like marigolds on Ritilin.
'Raymond would have no reason not to admire this act.'
He stopped by a shimmering sea of Ubers.
The scrape and drawl of siren made no impression on him.
Leaking smoke reminded him of
Snow White’s Cottage
Where he had taken Marie when Lucie was born:
The place where he would go out at dawn to chop wood.
He liked the way her roses played
With the restlessness of children.
Then he thought: 'if only mother could see me now.'

I'm the kind of girl who burns through guy friends like rubber on tiers, like sulfur on matches, like gasoline and kerosine and flameward moths.
But I don't want to burn through you.
We just go together so well—like puzzle pieces.
You and I are like day and night, sun and moon.
If you only knew how it eats me up inside, keeping my cool.
I feel this tiny spark dancing in my heart and it threatens to rake my body in flames, ready to pounce on me, licking and biting at the first sign that I'm falling for you.  
I'm really trying to hold my fuse right now, but one second we're joking and laughing and in the next you say something that tugs at me and I feel my hold on it slipping.
If I don't burn you first, this fire in my bones will certainly consume me.