Be Wary of My Flames by Linda M. Crate

all my life
i have kept her locked away
believing her to be evil

one day she pulled off her veil,
insisted we have tea together;

then i discovered my dark
feminine
wasn't grotesque or evil or vile
simply society
who tried to deny she was a puzzle
piece in this symphony of me—

so now i let her sing her song,
and i let her black feathers
show;

dark phoenixes can heal but they'll
burn you should you try to destroy
them or those they love
so be wary of my flames.

Linda M. Crate is a writer whose works have been published in numerous magazines and anthologies both online and in print. She is the author of six poetry chapbooks, the latest of which is: More Than Bone Music (Clare Songbirds Publishing House, March 2019). She is also the author of the novel Phoenix Tears (Czykmate Books, June 2018).