Burning Poetry

By Ashley Niedzwiecki

I threw one of my poems
into a fire
just to feel the heat
of my words
cutting through the cold night air.
To see them
glow red among the embers,
twisting and curling with the flames
that licked their chops longingly.
To hear them
crack angrily and hiss their wants,
the way the black ink
that tied them to the page
never could.
To see their remnants,
gray and frail,
float up, furling and unfurling
with the smoke,
to join the ranks of the stars.