A Fire Inside

The Yellow Brick Ave

A fire burns
within me,
and its dark
gray smoke
rises up–
swirling around me–
clouding my vision,
my judgement–
as it escapes.

I cough–
This is a consequence
of having a fire
thriving inside,
deep in my belly–
It makes it hard to breathe,
hard to see,
hard to just exist.

But this fire also
creates light.
You can see embers of it–
sparks of it–
in my eyes.
It provides heat–
keeps me warm
at night
or when the chill
comes down
from the mountainside.
And the smoke
is ultimately
ephemeral–
leaving in wisps
with even
the slightest
breeze.

I will not
let this fire
die out
no matter
what the world
tells me.

I can’t.

Photo byVlad BagacianfromPexels

This week, I would like to shine a light on the Innocence Project, a nonprofit organization that uses testing or retesting of DNA evidence in…

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