There is a fire

sitting in my rib cage

its sparks are sadness

it is kindled by rage

Trauma is an arsonist

that keeps burning

choking my whole

suffocating my soul

with an overwhelming

grief for life for love

for feeling worthy

and the flames

are roaring

oh how they hurt me

marred me

scarred me

and no matter

how hard I try

to extinguish

that part of me

that is ablaze

my memory always

wants to raise

those things I’d

rather forget

and so I sit with

this fire in my rib cage

that will not go out

and I want to scream

I want to shout

I want to cry

I want to know why

the past will not

just go away

but I sit here silently

apathetic and pathetically

exhausted and sad