Great granitic catacombs, hollowed out by flame
rust inside my soul.
Magma cracks through the crust of my earth, smoking.
Metal, molten, seethes at my core;
the history of my formation, tumultuous,
written in every layer
of my skin.
Black ash spouts from my mouth,
volcanic, I erupt, bursting, spitting, lashing,
lava tongues and rocky clattering teeth,
beating against the earth, fuming at the sky.
The landscape changes.
Chill, the air. Grey, the sun. Black, the earth.
And I retreat, cooling, hardening, growing stronger: a new layer of history forming on my earth.
Still I simmer, calamitous, cavernous,
waiting to ignite.
—
This poem was, hilariously enough, inspired by the show Avatar: The Last Airbender, which, by the way, if you haven’t watched it, get on that shit, right the fuck now. I watched Avatar with my sister and identified very strongly with the Firebending people, who are fiery at heart and draw strength from their anger. This poem came out of a desire to personify and characterize the fierce anger and desire for justice that defines my personality. But I don’t think this is unique to me. Not everyone experiences anger, strength, and resilience this way, but for me and likely many others, fire is one of the best metaphors to relate to all of my emotions, including love, forgiveness, happiness, sadness, confusion, and yes, anger.
This poem isn’t the best it could be, but it was the best raw translation of my emotions into something textual, something readable, at the moment. I hope to make it better one day. Until then, this is it.
The Z-Axis 
It’s funny, but my anger tends to take the shape of air, or a mix of air and water. It makes sense for me, though, as my temper tends to flare up in sudden gusts and subside just as quickly, leaving a sunny sky and no trace of gray behind. And there are people who’s temperaments align them with the earth benders, instead – those who’ve lost all patience with something or someone and refuse to budge on the issue. Neat poem, and I love how you got the inspiration for it.
Thanks so much, Jess! I love that you identify more with air, although I would be interested in how your emotions manifest even without the metaphors of the four elements. Have you watched Avatar? It sounds like you have!
I have! 😀
Ugh, I love this so much. And I definitely see this in you, in the best way! Beautiful words. 🙂
Thanks so much, Hiba! I’m thrilled you liked it. It means a lot coming from you!
Beautiful imagery and real raw emotions that are felt while reading 🙂 Wonderful poem ^_^ And Avatar is a great show filled with inspiration in many forms – I enjoyed it a lot too 🙂
Thank you so much! Avatar is an amazing show. Not only did I get hours of entertainment, but I also feel as though I really learned something. So glad you liked this poem!
Same here & so many inspiration came from there for me 🙂 And my pleasure it’s really a wonderful one ^_^
Well penned, great job 😀
Thank you!
You’re welcome 😛
Beautifully written, Amira! I like this one a lot!
Thank you for sharing this poem (and the awesome inspiration behind it)! So have you learned how to “bend” your fiery anger yet? 😛
No but I am hard at work on my hot squats so hopefully one day! Thanks for your sweet comment and here’s to much bending in the future 🙂