I am fire (in response to Noʻu Revilla's, "I am Reptile")

I am fire.

Heat personified

I am center of earth. Land beginning.

Moving

I make the wet in you

Rise to steam

Leaving a reminder

A sign to those close enough to hear the sizzle whisper

of your skin to my burning surface

I welcome your intrigue

And wait for our rupture

As you come close

I compose a kindling song

to warm your icy veins

I wonder

How to cool this flame

To a tinder

How to soften myself

My heat

To hold you

I envy the hard edges of pōhaku

The ones swept under your slime

I know, one without edges

Like me

Cannot be touched for long

I try to make a deal with the ʻiliʻili at the base of your pond

I am an impersonation of solid matter

Under you

Breathing

Heavy. Mortal like.

As you begin to rise

I Imagine a fire that could

melt itself into solid body

forever

But I cannot be anything other than this boundless passion

Reaching
for you

Perhaps

Instead

You can learn to swim

In fire