By This Kind Of Burning Poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar

The core of my being
Animates with heated truth.
It does not stay ignited to offend.
But then...
Neither will it suffocate,
From smoke screens placed...
To shield it from an occasional agitated blaze!
So many have rushed in panic to squelch these sparks.
Once raging now they flicker.
But it doesn't keep the winds that come,
From spreading what has been simmering...
Into flames that captivate and hypnotize,
Those mesmerized by this kind of burning.