The Words Hang In The Air (Poem)

they burn

so that you have to look away

close your eyes

lest your life be seared

bury the memory of the flames

deep beneath your fearful skin

and think that hidden

the fiery letters sputter out

extinguished

not even marked by a trail of smoke

in the hour of death’s arrive

when agony screams or acceptance smiles

and the bones begin their final dance

these words appear again

etched from the skeletal surface

rise with gilded wings

shining above the funeral pyre

what words are these

do not ask

each carries their own ashes

in the cinerary of their open heart