they gave me a word for it
so I wouldn’t have to say
I like the way
the flames found you
how they wrapped round you
and swallowed the little kingdom you built
they gave me a word
that sounds almost gentle
considerin
the way I stood there
palms open
lettin your misfortunes
warm my hands
you built this fire yourself
stacked it with names and lies
fed it borrowed light
and called it a truth
self righteous enough to think
it wouldn’t turn on you
so don’t look at me
like I struck the match
I just watched the spark
as it finally started
to slowly devour you
there’s a particular beauty
to watchin someone burn
inside their own bullshit
the way the smoke
keeps spellin their name
long after everythin else forgets it
I didn’t ask for this
didn’t plan the fault lines
but when the roof started screamin
I couldn’t help myself
I stayed
I leaned into the heat
felt my pulse sync
with the sound of your walls givin in
and I smiled
they gave me language
so I don’t have to admit
that your sufferin
feels aesthetic
feels earned
feels like poetry you wrote
and finally had to live inside
I didn’t want you saved
I didn’t want you dead
I just wanted you exactly here
hands full of ash
starin at the fire
realizin too late
it was always yours
b/c you spent so long
actin untouchable
I wanted you to see
what touched looked like
this isn’t justice
it’s architecture
this isn’t revenge
it’s physics
you lived inside a lie
so fuckin long
it learned your heartbeat
and collapsed round it
I’m not here for you
I’m here for the warmth
hands steady in the glow
watchin you finally understand
how your own heat
can destroy somebody
“this isn’t justice
it’s architecture
this isn’t revenge
it’s physics
you lived inside a lie
so fuckin long
it learned your heartbeat
and collapsed round it”
Powerfully penned, 253. Excellent write per usual. Killer fucking stanza above. Also that ending drove the nail in the coffin. Appreciate you.
Damian
aprreciate you Damian. like when get to see what parts stood out.
OH MY FUCKING GOD YES! I have this in my word list — I keep a list on my phone notes of words that tingle: Schadenfreude, Bifurcate, Aposematic, Etiology… so the title drew me in.
And good goddamn you told the story in lyric. IT WAS SO GOOD.
This was a standout. This was the stanza that made me come back three times:
there’s a particular beauty
to watchin someone burn
inside their own bullshit
the way the smoke
keeps spellin their name
long after everythin else forgets it
THE WAY THE SMOKE KEEPS SPELLING THEIR NAME?! That is brilliant and I’m in love with the image.
Really well penned.
Betty
words that tingle…I like that. thanks Betty. glad ya liked it.