flicker in,
fade out
a spark is all I need,
just a taste of heat
and I’d ignite back to
the inferno I once was.
pour me into your veins,
nurse me back
your chest shall house
the memory of the
fire-breathers…
flicker in,
fade out
I will teach you
how to swallow the
acridity
how to curl the
smoke around
your tongue.
You’ll lick the ashes
from your lips
breathing deep…
bellows…
jewels of flame
will fall from your mouth
soot lingering
across your cheek,
smear it with the back of your hand
I have so much left to offer, if you’d only –
flicker in,
fade out
do not let me die

Autumn Blackwood (fae/faer) is a dreamer, bunny mom, Pagan Priestess, wife, activist, and more than a list of adjectives can describe. Fae currently work in a library, write on the side, crochet incessantly, and hope for a better world for all. Fae have been published in Bella Grace magazine and several small publications, including the Tamarack newspaper of Naugatuck Valley Community College.