Darlene Ninziza
Year: Senior
Major: Child development and Writing
Home: Rwanda
Lying on a bed of burning coals
Pressing in, relaxed, as I scream your name.
I am to your right, next to you
offering a way out, guard your heart.
But you just look at me, and smile.
The man who is supposed to love you,
laid you to rest, on a bed of burning coals.
Claims you are safe, though he doesn’t join you.
I see you burning, but you ignore me.
You love him, because he chose you.
But you are a short lived choice.
How did he capture you?
Lure you to his bed of burning coals.
Fooled you to endure the pain,
He reaches deeper, a layer further,
closer to your heart, and you are in love.
The smoke blinds your eyes,
They are too dry to cry.
You blink the stinging away
You inhale, and sink with every breath
The coals bury you like quicksand
You can’t hear me, you can’t see me
Under his bed of burning coals