stars and embers

i am entranced with the prospect of a burning world

an otherworldly glow of smouldering ardor, untamed, intense, yet calm

the spirit of each flame unique and unparalleled

i watch the cinders pulse with vermillion and midnight smoke unfurl into the sky-

-blocking out the light of those that dreamily gleam above

Oh

No

no

no

i must feel their chilling rays on my skin each night. it means i must be above the smoke, unable to breathe but risking it for a simple glance of the stars, even at the expense of my body

for then i will fall, fall, fall, and where and how and when i will land won’t matter because by then, i would already be gone.

the last thing that i see is a cold expanse of midnight blue, adorned with flecks of flickering white

then i blink and a vortex of bright embers explodes into being, surrounding me, heated and stinging on contact

i have burned away too much of me, for a single glimpse of what shines in the sky

i reach a hand up, and, at last, i notice

my vision blurs, eyes closing, as my final thought drifts in,

a flake of ash carried in on the breeze

“these embers,

don’t they look like stars?”