The Blue Flame

Luis Cuauhtémoc Berriozábal: The Blue Flame

The Blue Flame

by Luis Cuauhtémoc Berriozábal

Keep your hands off the burner.

Its flame only speaks one language.

Afterward it will not comfort you.

Its duty is not to warn but to burn.

This is why I shy away from love

and all its trappings. This is why

I don’t ever whisper the word in your

ear. These burnt lips know better.

The heart wants what it wants and its

desire will only lead to the blue flame.

No amount of tears will extinguish

the aftermath of a life smoldering.

Keep your hands off the burner.

I will not repeat these words again.

Luis lives in California and works in Los Angeles. His poetry, art, and photography has appeared in Black Petals, Blue Collar Review, Kendra Steiner Editions, Medusa's Kitchen, Rogue Wolf Press, Venus in Scorpio Poetry Journal, and Yellow Mama Webzine.

Bernice Holtzman’s paintings and collages have appeared in shows at various venues in Manhattan, including the Back Fence in Greenwich Village, the Producer’s Club, the Black Door Gallery on W. 26^th St., and one other place she can’t remember, but it was in a basement, and she was well received. She is the Assistant Art Director for Yellow Mama.