Charcoal

I’ve always been charcoal

Porous and absorbing others’ pain

Filling hearts

Drinking poison

Eating what didn’t belong to me

I set myself on fire

To escape through the flames

I would crumble and blow away

Now I am charcoal

Soft and adapting to others’ pain

Drawing pictures

Writing poems to open hearts

Mapping what doesn’t belong to us

I draw lines to define my own space

And light myself up to enjoy the warm glow

of our flames