Pain

Holding a match too long

Waiting that extra second

Foolishly, knowingly

Watching the flame

As it grows down

Life, in reverse

Creating only by destroying

Leaving charred wood in its wake

Mesmerized by the destruction

A ballet of indefinable colors

Until you feel the heat

You shake out the flame

Frantically and shocked by the burn

But you have felt it before

And you watched it coming

You allowed it

You wanted it

You are in control

You are alive

You chose it, then refused it

You caused it, then ended it

A reminder of life

A denial of death

The pain of being