Anjulee Baharally

The red flames dance in the box

As more wood is added to the collection

The logs are burning

And turning black

With a hint of its natural color

They’re piled up on each other

Overlapping like a family.

A sister is what you are to me

Someone I’ve known for eight years

You called me at one in the morning that day

Sobbing about your grandfather

And that he is no longer walking on this Earth

I forced my eyes open the entire night

And kept my ears vacant for your troubles

So that they can be lifted off your shoulders

And tucked in and put away

“I survived because the fire

inside me burned brighter

than the fire around me.”

You had now made yourself feel small

That scar is now laminated and framed in that school

For everyone to witness

What your words contributed to

Now my words are replaying in your ears

Like a song that plays everyday on the radio

You do always say you love music

Now you listen to the words that fell out of your mouth

Into my head

Out of my eyes and down my cheek

Into my hands

And back into your ears.

A fireplace can burn when it is touched

It can leave a scar if troubled

It can burn your house down

If not well taken care of

Or if the care falls into the wrong hands

It can spark

And bite at you

If played with

It can cause darkness if put out

And leave you cold

The logs turn midnight black

As they are being burned by the fire

The ashes are left under the pit

And they remind you of what was once there

1.

The rich mahogany exterior

holds a brave face,

A face with a carved-on smile

It’s misleading.

People graze their fingers

on the soft wood

They like how it feels.

There is something

beyond the keyhole

waiting to be opened.

Locked like your knees

when you’re standing

captive too long

in the silver.

2.

I was almost there,

But could not be

enough.

Enough is my mantra.

Maybe if I carve deeper,

smile wider,

I can grasp enough

and finally place it

on the mahogany pedestal

I’ve set aside for it.

3.

What goes on behind the words?

Outside is lavish.

The center is hollow.

Can you see the panic inside?

I’ll close my mouth

I won’t say a word.

They can only see what I show them

and I swallowed my key

years ago