Patrick Theron Erickson
Patrick Theron Erickson, a resident of Garland, Texas, a Tree City, just south of Duck Creek, is a retired parish pastor put out to pasture himself. His work has appeared in Grey Sparrow Journal, Tipton Poetry Journal, and The Main Street Rag, among other publications, and more recently in Sheila-Na-Gig online, Torrid Literature Journal, South Florida Poetry Journal, and Arlington Literary Journal.
Conflagration
Carry me through
the inferno
but wrap me
in asbestos
pausing upon the fiery threshold
long enough that I might be divested
of that part of me that burns
And should I self-combust
by all means fan the flame
Muzzle the fire extinguisher
disarm the smoke alarm
and bring forth my puny illumination
as light would have it
a reflected light
at best
and magnify it
by that grateful lens
by which I seem to see myself
go up in flames
if I deign to look
or else I burn
I burn.
Sheila-Na-Gig online 