I once met a person covered in smoke and glitter, glowing like fire in the evening sun

They lit up like a flare in the dark sweetly bitter, unholy with ashes and rivers unrun

I knew that charcoal is nourishing and true and I wasn’t scared of the flames

But they burned me alive from the inside out and scarred me with pains

To numerous now to be named

//

A burning heat in December, a January filled with my tears

My heart lost in a maze by February, in March I swallowed my fears

//

But when someone who craves war meets someone who needs peace

In a wish and a prayer I held onto hopes of freedom, joy, truth and release

But when I went to the river I saw it had run dry and all I had left in the end

Was sawdust