Today, I set myself on f***ing fire

Today I lit a match and set myself on fucking fire

I watched as my imperfections were singed 

I don’t remember the heat of the flames

I remember the smell of my own vulnerabilities

Set ablaze by the societal demands on a young woman

A life begins in striving

Ends in catching that final breath

As fire engulfs me 

Stealing the oxygen from my lungs

As I drown without water

The gates open 

Wounds I thought closed 

Ripped open and debrided with the fire burning me alive

Today I found myself underwater while on land

Drinking my own thoughts like compliments about my looks 

As I choke on the bitter sweet words willing their way out

I swallow hard trying to force the words down

with the molasses thick saliva stuck inside my mouth

Instead, all of the words I have been dying to say fall out

Today I lit a match and set my words on fire

Nurturing the fire in my soul

Healing the torn apart wounds