Inferno (Slam Poetry) Poem by Maya Hanson

If you gave me the chance
I would pull you inside this cave
I have spent so many hours in,
breathe in the tales
that have stayed on your lips all these years
and make them my own,
make them ours.

I am a thousand degrees,
breathing through the flame
I am made of smoke and ashes
and I am glad you came with matches
not a tsunami
because alone I want to be so full so bright so burning beautiful
and then I want to have you
together we can set the cave on fire.

If you gave me the chance
I would pull you up
like a rocket
You have set the fire under my feet
you have drawn out the sparks from my lungs
you have burst into smoke inside my head
you have turned me into a living, breathing inferno.

But my cave is pitch
and when I realize I have singlehandedly
made your eyes the size of the stars,
the ones that bleed sadness,
I would say
I'm sorry it's so dark in here,
but I'm not really sorry for the darkness
I'm sorry it makes you feel that way.

I'm not sorry for the darkness
because we are still burning
and besides
the music can see me here.