Torch Song
copyright 2006, D. Leilehua Yuen

 

The flame burns
it burns
it burns with calm assurance
and anneals my pain
creating a new matrix

It burns
frustration
and anger
like oxygen and acetylene
a hard blue flame
surrounded by gold

Heat
destroys
and
creates

A torch teaches
you to look
through the flame
to the work beneath

Flames
like tears
can distort vision
and both are hot

A welder wears a mask
to protect eyes from flame
and, maybe, tears

Under a welder's mask
no one can see you cry