A Letter Aflame

Against the baleful tide fluorescent fire,
Borne by two colorless, anesthetized
Fingers, trembles at the quake of heartache
And burns the stiff, osseous paper black.

Beneath my now new eyes,
The quiet flame
Dissolves along its path
The written words
I shall never forget,
The written words
Sheer bitterness begat.

In the tinctured verdant of the bloodwood,
Pulled rude from me like slippery marrow,
An emigrant soul hesitates before
Floating wearily skyward with the smoke.