“Confessionals” by Chestina Craig

I’m always finding myself writing about fire

Maybe because I always got so much to burn

maybe cause I’m a fire sign it’s easy

because I smell a hint of smoke on my skin

always can trace myself back to Salem

a hundred or so years ago a man ordered

a part of me to go up in flames angry

she never burned for him

I am living Daughter

of a witch you never got to conquer

maybe I got a price tag on this body now

why I need this hair all that ice in my eye

this tongue

why I look bad in red

why my grandma went out the way she did

burning for a man in her kitchen

maybe why I got all this anger

gotta hide in the forests

how I get all the neighborhood stray cats winding around my leg

why I was scared of matches for so long

arson got so much home in this bloodline


Chestina Craig, an intersectional feminist, poet, and scientist in training, lives in Long Beach, CA with her cat. Currently a student at CSULB studying Marine Biology, she spends her free time in the ocean, taking photos, and petting sharks. Her other talents include eating whole pizzas and falling in love with 7pm tangerine sunlight. She hopes to one day only be required to wear gauzy long dresses and dance in the sea.

 

image credit

One thought on ““Confessionals” by Chestina Craig

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.