Long Time to Burn

Don’t burn me like a witch. A poem by Julia R. DeStefano

Photo by Gaspar Uhas on Unsplash

Long Time to Burn

To destroy someone

look not to lead pipes or candlesticks or ropes.

But tell them you love them,

and never talk to them again.

Because the most brutal death of all

is to be tied to the stake by someone

who decides overnight

to not know your magic,

and burn you like a witch.

Wiping you from their life

like a parlor trick.

Matches in one hand.

A hose in the other.

They hold every conceivable power

to fix things,

yet they watch the Rose

as she whirls into a new kind of flame.

So damn slow

to burn.

© Julia R. DeStefano