Versions of Heat
with the drip of wax
down a scar on my hand
to replicate a lost spark
i wonder at a candle unaware of an ending
of burning out an only tasting metal
i wonder at a candle
when will it be spring again?
summer may be long and dreary
warmth that suffocates a breath of air
but not the burn
of when your skin has tanned too much and pinches a fiery red
that shouldn’t be possible without wind
until too much blows it out
blows out the red of leaves
the gold (of winning, of shining, and of burning)
into brown
metal can taste different no matter what
but the color will always be dark
opposite of burning
Natasha, “Versions of Heat” has many arresting images. In the beginning, wax drips “replicate a lost spark.” Makes sense. Even without flame, hot wax will raise a raw, red burn. But even more interesting is the “wonder at a candle unaware of an ending.” A candle will burn so long as there is wick to hold the flame– but the wick is finite. We, too, cycle through the seasons– “warmth that suffocates,” and then wind that blows the changing leaves, blows “the gold (of winning, of shining, and of burning)/ into brown.” The ending, a color “opposite of burning,” sidesteps the age-old question, “What’s it all about?” Leaves the reader to infer what is “opposite of burning.”
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Natasha, “Versions of Heat” has many arresting images. In the beginning, wax drips “replicate a lost spark.” Makes sense. Even without flame, hot wax will raise a raw, red burn. But even more interesting is the “wonder at a candle unaware of an ending.” A candle will burn so long as there is wick to hold the flame– but the wick is finite. We, too, cycle through the seasons– “warmth that suffocates,” and then wind that blows the changing leaves, blows “the gold (of winning, of shining, and of burning)/ into brown.” The ending, a color “opposite of burning,” sidesteps the age-old question, “What’s it all about?” Leaves the reader to infer what is “opposite of burning.”