To Burn Poem by Abby Koning

The thick, heavy smoke in your head, in
My head
I cannot escape such clutching tendrils
My lungs are blackened, my heart
A charred slab of bleeding meat left too
Long in the flames, reduced to
Tasteless ash

Repulsing the mind
Upsetting the stomach

(In short, as a meal I am unsatisfactory…
Eat me if you must—
I’ll cure your shakes, but I’ll make
Your stomach churn.)

Do you hunger, my carnivore?
My bloodthristing, meatcraving friend?
Continue your scorching, your poking about
In my coals

There is nothing left for you to burn.