INFERNAL/INFERNO
TOPAZ WINTERS
How great this is, to love a girl into burning.
That is to say, I’ve seen wildfires commit suicide
when she comes near. I can never find her hands
but still I know her fingertips are matchsticks.
I’m sorry, but my smoky lifespan doubles
every time she sighs in my direction. That is to say,
I’m not sorry at all.
Look at her. Tell me that girl is not a song of burning.
Look at her and tell me her eyes are not a housefire
waiting to happen.
A candle will surrender its oxygen if only she stands
close enough. Trust me, I would know.
That is to say, no matter how many tsunamis I swallow,
I will never forget her lips charred on skin.
In some other room, the smoke rising.
In some other life, a fire that knows to burn itself out.
That is to say, my body would dissolve in ashes
if only to meet hers in the future tense.
I love her in the way a frightened deer will lock its knees
and not move again. Even if it means burning alive.
That is to say, I’ve seen wildfires commit suicide
when she comes near. I can never find her hands
but still I know her fingertips are matchsticks.
I’m sorry, but my smoky lifespan doubles
every time she sighs in my direction. That is to say,
I’m not sorry at all.
Look at her. Tell me that girl is not a song of burning.
Look at her and tell me her eyes are not a housefire
waiting to happen.
A candle will surrender its oxygen if only she stands
close enough. Trust me, I would know.
That is to say, no matter how many tsunamis I swallow,
I will never forget her lips charred on skin.
In some other room, the smoke rising.
In some other life, a fire that knows to burn itself out.
That is to say, my body would dissolve in ashes
if only to meet hers in the future tense.
I love her in the way a frightened deer will lock its knees
and not move again. Even if it means burning alive.
TOPAZ WINTERS was born in 1999. She resides in Singapore & at topazwinters.com.
