Fever Pitch

My ardent devotion suffocates me.
Grasp with strained fingertips to
loosen it from around my neck.

It’s been too long since a deep wintry air
has filled my belly
to cool off the searing heat.

Dark expansive space
before my eyes
within this skin.

Too long since the rains
have come down to quench the fever.
The waters fold in.

The rains should wash away
this corrosive state
instead it scalds
leaving behind
tattered bits,
threads showing bare.

Caustic tongue holds my silence plain
Burgundy lips sealed tight
Quiet the intensity
Subdue the chaos