“A Dulled Match” was inspired by my mentee, Grace’s piece, “used matches.” My poem is about claiming one’s own power and recognizing the fire in yourself no matter the odds. It is about daring to light up the world and set it aflame.
she burnt herself while looking in the mirror
it felt good to feel something, she thought
she grazed her inner thigh and put a blueberry in her mouth
she let it whisper to her
this is the taste of your beloved, it told her
she looked at herself again
she held the match out and lit it one more time
it flickered under her nose
it held its breath
it started doing that yoga ujjayi breath, ya know?
it moved with her and she was sorry she had ever tried to light the world up
instead she was burning it down
there was undoing before her
she wished she had known
the power she held in her flame
she wished she had thought about the others
she thought about the feelings she was prone to have
she thought about being known
and then hiding in a dull room
what shape would her life take?
there was so much chaos between the earth and the sky
she was only an untouched sample of it
she could escape
she could cry wolf
she could
she could kiss the flame and let it burn