third degree burns –
are you solid, liquid, gas, plasma?
what does a burning man feel like
when you get too close?
it’s third degree frostbite –
you hope they thaw so you can, too.
they burn so bright,
you look away and see blue-sky sprites,
they dance and taunt you.
you forget what the burn feels like,
but you come back for more.
a burning man never disintegrates,
an eternal effigy to their self,
misrepresentative,
smoke clouds obscure them.
you will know a burning man
when you walk away tinged
and covered in the soot,
you will recall the smells
and the mirage,
and the burns will remind you
that a burning man
burns alone.
