Lantern

It has always been there,
the burning deep inside.

Some days, it is welcoming,
like the warmth of a heart-fire
in the bleak cold of winter.

On others, it is persistent,
a nagging spark that starts roughly
and settles discomfortingly in his core.

And still, there are days when it rages,
becoming a turbulent forest fire that blazes inside him
until it finally bursts from its blistered shell.

Then, it burns within and around him.

He has watched his scorched world fall to ash
over and over and over again,
yet he still manages to keep himself lit.