Venus slows down until Jupiter glides by taking advantage of my heart vibrating my soul focusing 

On cold dusty saturated boggy bay filled with nights of ransom for a sip of time while life's got me slurping on it like it's a slurpee hawks swoop down on me in circular motion above my head repeating the cycle of history crushing my bare essence . bones now translucent riddled with Interlocked 

density consumed brittleness that soon crackle-with each quake and tremble of my breath my ribs open and close like shutters on a window leaving me stuck on limestone parkway and softer then his featherbone I'm on the rebound of selling pieces of me for .25 cents but it will cost you a little more for the puppet strings batteries aren't included partial smile or wink and blink, couple of kisses will set your wallet on flames and your latest house note in foreclosure because a woman's love only stretches so far before it bends then breaks all while surfing on a wave of heart break

6/28/17. MYA

Prologue

Fire rippled all around her. She couldn't remember how it started and she couldn't see where they would end. All she knew was that the fire was going to eat her village alive.

There seemed to be no end to the flames, no stopping the wicked heat that burned everything in it’s wake. The heat stung her eyes, the smoke scorched her lungs. She tried but she couldn't move. She watched the flames as they wove themselves around her limbs it was as if they owned her.

She pulled her knees up under her chin, her body cold despite the flames that trapped her inside her room. Her hands were shaking. She could hear her parents screaming. She squeezed her eyes shut wishing, begging for someone to stop the fire.

With her eyes closed she saw her baby brother. She should go to him, he needed to be saved.

But her body was frozen, between the flames and the wicked voice inside her head, she could do nothing. The voice whispered to her, it told her that this was all her doing. She wouldn't be saved because she was the cause of all this destruction. So she stayed where she was, waiting for death or a miracle. Or maybe death would be her miracle.

At barely ten years old she didn't know which she preferred.

Her mother’s voice carried as she searched for her. The little girl couldn't find her voice, she couldn't find the air to yell back and tell her everything would be okay as long as she didn't move and enter the room bathed in flames. A flash of movement happened outside the window. She should've been scared of the shadows.

But there were far scarier things in this world than ghosts.

The fire crackled and burned through her wooden door. The beams that held the roof above their heads were falling all around her as her mother got to the top of the stairs. The little girl sat, staring. Watching as the hungry flames engulfed her home.

Waiting for them to take her soul too.

Someone grabbed her. A strong hand wrapped around her tiny body and pulled her from the center of the inferno. They licked her face, almost as if they were sad to see her go. Now that she was being rescued she was able to think about how they didn't burn her. The realization dawned on her. The flames , were her children, they wouldn't, no, they couldn’t, do her harm.

She controlled them. As much as they controlled her.

The rain didn't stop the flames from traveling. She saw the truth of her destruction the moment her father set her down outside their house. The village was burning, nothing would be left in its wake. She wanted to scream, to beg whoever had done this to stop it.

Her hands began to shake. That voice whispered once more, telling her that this was all her fault. That she had no one to blame but herself for the suffering that swept through the night and covered her world in blue flames.

Her father's deep voice, for once, didn't calm her, "they're coming. Get the children to safety."

Her mother shook her head, "no. I'm staying with you."

The little girl looked up at her parents. Something was wrong. Where was her brother? Why wasn’t he carried outside like she was?

Her fear and anger twisted through her core. She felt her hands glowing, she felt the fire inside her soul. She could feel the heat in her body making her blood boil, it was coming off her in waves. How could no one see it? How had no one felt heat on her skin, seen the fire in her eyes? Tears gathered in her eyes as her mother hugged her tightly to her chest.

"They can't find you here wildfire," she whispered softly, choking on the nickname her father had given her so long ago, "go in the woods. Go hide, you know the place. Don’t forget your training. I'll find you."

A tear slipped down her cheek, "promise?"

Her mother’s lips were cold as she kissed her forehead, "I promise. I always keep my promises."

Another shadow passed and everyone stilled. Her mother slipped something cold and gold around her neck. It grew warm as it hit just between her breasts. The little girl gasped, her mother quickly putting the amulet underneath her shirt. The little girl's father pushed her into the trees before she could protest. She watched as the darkness came and wove itself through the flames. She watched as her family stood and refused to give her up.

When her baby brother started screaming, she ran.

The little girl ran barefoot through the forest. Away from the shadows and her flames. Her mother’s voice guided her, run, run as fast as you can. She had told her to run, to get away and never look back. And so she ran, her breath floating like a ghost in front of her face.

She pushed down her tears, but they blinded her more than the darkness of the night. Still she ran, away from her family, away from her home. She knew deep inside her little heart that her mother wouldn't be able to keep her promise. She wouldn't survive the night. Her mother wouldn't find her.

Still the little girl ran for as long as she could. She kept going until her lungs threatened to stop working, until her legs felt like they were going to fall off, and her exhaustion was too much to bear. She ran blind through the forest that surrounded the only place she had ever called home.

She didn't see the edge of the cliff. She didn't see the branch. The little girl tripped and fell into the cold water, and not for the first time, wished that she would've succumbed to the heat of the flames instead.

Blood spatter bright,

Beneath the cold midnight light,

Of a late October moon,

Where our love has met its doom,

I weep in profound remorse,

Where my hand has dealt its course,

Of events I had no control,

While the midnight bell did toll,

Your life soon will be ended,

From the mortal wound untended,

Your life's force outward flows from your wound,

Though long since you have swooned,

The perfume in your hair,

Still lingers in the midnight air,

As you die here in my arms,

I still, succumb to your charms,

My hot tears, wet upon your face,

Mixed with my feelings of shame and disgrace,

You never now will know dear,

Just what it is to know fear,

My obsessions now made clear,

My secret now you know dear,

That I have lived two separate lives,

Because I have had two wives.

This crimson blade of steel,

That somehow seems unreal,

Will mix your blood with mine,

Where the sun shall never shine,

In my heart I now impale,

I do this, without fail,

Our bloods of deepest red,

Both flowing like a watershed,

Now too, my life is over,

Beneath this field of crimson clover,

On the late October moon,

Where our love has met its doom.