The fire burns inside me.

It follows everywhere I go

It burns while I laugh

It burns while I smile

It burns with a ferocious glow

From the inside it burns me

All the way through

It fights it's way out of my skin.

I sit. I sing.

I love. I give.

& It burns & burns from within.

This fire I've learned to control

To use for my own good.

But fire's still hot,

No matter my fight,

I'm no better than wood.

Tormented and burned through,

I'll be left as a log in the fire.

Burning others who get too close

Stemming from heartache, betrayal, and ire.

I'll be the right shape,

I'll look like me.

But after years of the burning,

touch me and see.

I'll crumble like ash.

No longer a tree.