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If I Could Write This with Fire

Ayana Tapper

 

If I could write this with fire

That would set the page ablaze

I would tell him that I still love him

 

Overcome by emotion

Hearing my falling tears sizzle

Smelling my fingers burn

I would admit that I still miss him

 

Inked words reduced to smoke

The declaration of my love turned to ashes

Where they belong

 

Ayana Tapper is from West Orange, New Jersey, and is double majoring in political science and history. Her passions are writing, playing music and painting. She wrote this poem for “Professor Richard Murray’s amazing introductory creative writing course in the fall of 2020.” Ayana’s instructor, Richard Murray, selected the poem for inclusion in WHR.