i wake up to a pit of fire in my stomach
flames growing wilder as i get closer to school
it feels like bad cramps but higher up
when the firefighters come
try to put it out with their hoses
i keel over
hold onto the table in front of me
sprint to the bathroom
throw up the fire.
it all happens so fast
i still go to school
but i make sure not to spread the burning
even to my closest friends
"i'm great! how are you?"
all while i know what's actually happening.
casualties are trying to jump out through my eyes
but i push them back in.
in the bathroom
i help them escape in a safer way
in neat red ladders
lining my arm.
they're red with anger as they drip down
caught with a white trampoline
absorbs their fall
so they don't splat on the floor like a pancake.
i try not to feed the flame
it sizzles, grumbles complaining
as it's being put out.
just watering it to smother the groaning.
the firefighters are doing a good job
keeping it safe, contained,
right?
by o.p.
the fire's taken over me
