Lurking Fear

when i was 5 i burned my side on a large room heater.
i dont really remember the burn but i remember the red glowing metal strips,
how could any kid resist touching them.
my mother said i was in the hospital for a week, poor kid, burnt.
the nurses must have loved it.
i burned my back again when i was in 5th grade.
this time on a space heater in our government supplied house.
it was a large metal framed thing that looked like a stove, ugly,
but it provided warmth for the cold cinder block crypt we lived in.
i think i leaned back to close to it, trying to get warm from the denver cold.
hands frozen waiting for government cheese and canned meat.
my mom would say ‘dont get too close youll burn yourself’.
the trouble is the warmth is so nice. like a lovers arms holding you,
enveloping you and taking you into a trance like state.
a lover a girlfriend a wife …like the heaters.

red lips like the glowing metal strips.