Burning Light

The flames licked my arms But I did not stir The spring breeze sent the curtains flying And the golden rays burst in and set everything afire The light punched its way into the room It knocked into the shelves that wept in silence Book spines instantly faded Then pages were ablaze, incinerated It left bruises on the carpet Whose dust rose up with the breeze It danced with the fringes on the bedclothes Making shadows ripple across the empty space before the pillows at my feet The air sent ripples up my arms And I gasped at its touch Curved into the corner of the farthest wall, I glared at the light seeking me out It scratched its fingers into every crack and crevice And fractured against my lonely reflection Blasting shards of glittering light across the walls It was sniffing me out It could smell the darkness on me Daring to touch my withered skin Yearning to warm my sunken face The curtains shifted the shadows on the walls And finally its eyes befell me The golden rays found me at last They clawed through the hair that clung at my face Stretched forth and stabbed at my eyes But I clenched them shut in fear I’d go blind with sight I transformed myself into the wall Curled up inside its weakened shadow The golden rays licked at my arms But I did not stir The bright flames seared my skin But I let it burn