Hope by Jake St. John & Jenn Knickerbocker

The fire burns

my thoughts

reducing me

to ash

a rush of air

sends cinders 

wild as my mind 

tends to be 

these days

but here I sit

boots in dirt

head in hands

alone and forgotten

the single tear drop

making its way

down my cheek

carves the path

of debris

as I hope

for the same clarity

to reach my mind 

and ease my eyes

the agony 

is suffocating

I take a swig

swallowing the pain

for tonight, I relinquish

myself to the flames.

Jake St. John spends his nights in a cabin on the edge of the woods. He is the author of several collections of poetry including Night Full of Diamonds (Whiskey City Press, 2021), Snow Moon (Holy & Intoxicated Publications, 2019) and Lost City Highway (A Jabber Publication, 2019). His poems have appeared in print and online journals around the world. 

Jenn Knickerbocker is a writer, a mother, and a teacher. You can find her on a forest path or sitting fireside during her free time.