the flammable man
highly combustible
ready to be kindling
he walked around thinking he was flameproof
until the day he got too close to a bonfire
and went up like tinder
gone so fast
his classmates thought his head disappeared
indeed he had
Compare and contrast
the use of symbolism and imagery
in the following two poems
by Gerald McDumb Bell
The test question piqued my interest at first
the poet's name and all
After glancing at the poems, though
I doused them in wood alcohol
Raging fires roared, yet nothing could hold her back;
she was born in flames...
Sadly, that which helps forge vitality, indubitably, burns.
Embers soon seek refuge in blanketed debris,
praying to fade as apathy attempts to nurture injury.
Mercy, I beg, draw near and peel back ashen veil;
enable compassion, tenderness, and understanding to elicit
tears of gratitude, for they are certain to ignite abandoned flames!
Let passion's fire forever radiate deeply within this and every soul.
May all come to know her warmth, be guided by her light,
feel her rapture in righteous endeavors, and
nevermore become singed nor devoured
by her eternal blaze.
PEACE, LOVE & JOY TO ALL
2020
There is in you
a schizophrenic flicker,
pucker-lipped,
ready to kiss or to blow itself out,
a hermit flame still with a ration of passion,
but dissuaded by bruised recollection.
Allow me to try, then,
to wring out your reserve of tears,
until your skin is paper,
flammable.
And let me try, if I may,
to put my arms around you,
cup my hands around your core,
and feed your anorexic fire.
We built a flammable house.
Put smoke detectors in.
Then called the fire department
to save what we had in.
Then cashed in our insurance
to buy another house.
And filled it up again
with things we'll have to dowse.
I gave my sorrow a name,
A face.
It smothers me 'til I jar awake.
Without the pain:
A moth without her flame,
Lost and out of place.
I lie alone and wait;
They told me it would be ok,
The lie I never forgave.
Flammable but still the same;
The haunted wounds; the violent blame,
The scars that never came.
Everything I resurrected is gone,
Everything I burned healed wrong.
The grief went on too long;
The dark is where I must belong.
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