1:1

“Why are you alone?”

“They taught me

I needed no one else.”

1:2

“Do you think the fire is alive?

Do you think it knows?”

“That which we have mastered—

so complete in our manipulation

and entire in our control—

for it to be twisted

and bent to serve

any means we deem fit . . .

quite possibly, yes.”

1:3

“How many fears must you have

of the one who seeks to love you?”

“I fear only the loss

of my tender ugliness.”

1:4

“Who do you think

you really are?”

“I know not what I am,

merely what these hands

must do.”

1:5

“Why is it you never wait?”

“I have always healed best

on a bed of warm ashes.”

1:6

“What is wrong with you?”

“I am fine.”

“Are you lying to yourself?

Just like all the rest?”

“You could tear my tongue

from my head

and would yet never

render the truth.”