so it burns, so I live...

For Meghan

I feel so many things,

I think too much. My mind is always racing,

my insides are always fluttering.

My tear ducts

are constantly open,

and my heart is permanently attached to my sleeve.

Though I avoid commitment,

I have also learned when to ground my feet

in the earth,

for I'm never able to walk away from a heart-----no matter how it thwarts my own.

I lose my breath at night, thinking of him,

and I wake up sweating with teeth clenched.

My. Peace. Has. Been. Shaken.

Still, my heart beats recklessly,

impulsively and foolishly.

I have a passionate fire

that consumes my insides.

It's beautiful and yet dangerously out of control,

the way only fire can be.

I hurt.

I miss.I long for.

But I am well.

I would never smother my fire,

for though its burn is painful . . .

the life it brings me is invaluable.

I will never trade my burning fire;

its worth incalculable.

And I will never settle for the stagnant, lifeless existence that

is left

in the remains

of

The Fire.