i feel
less substantial
this evening
vaguely formless
a living shadow
wondering how
it would feel
to be alive

i used to light
a candle
each time i
missed you so badly
i couldn’t breathe
until i found
myself trapped
in a river of wax
and now i just
imagine them and
an inferno consumes
my entire mind

i am nothing
but the flame’s shadow
an absence
of spilled ink
where someone never was
complaining about
the car stereo outside
when it is just
my heartbeat thundering
in my skull

the bonfire roars
yet with every breath
another flame
joins the fiery chorus