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| Ocean of Fire by Gate to Nowhere at DeviantArt |
Kinship with ash,
he once wept smoking a cigarette.
Why do my tears smell like gasoline?
Nightmares in orange,
he’s sweat enough to saturate cities.
Sometimes, he dreams he is Joan of Arc.
Skin charred like paper,
blood still escapes
through the cracks, a dark syrup.
His armor gets heavy,
breath shallow in the smoke,
searching for survivors,
he loses his voice,
feels his ashen jaw come unhinged,
remembers the prayer he muttered
before first touching the flame:
Let me live again
as an ocean avenging an effigy.
Jay Sizemore brought the high-five out of retirement. He did not graduate from college, and is personal foot masseuse to his lovely wife. He knows the words to almost every Ryan Adams song. You can find his work in places online and in print. He lives in Nashville, TN, where music goes to die. His chapbook Father Figures is available on Amazon.