I was not cut
from my family tree
to be a torch;

should have been
a table or sturdy chair
like the rest of them.

I shocked them
when first I
smoldered

and when I then
blazed up and began
to be consumed

in fire, when I blackened
into checkerboard
scars of char,

it was too much and
they looked away.
I did not blame them

for that. I would have preferred
their comfort and utility
too, but now I

am fully alight. I touch tinder
into flame.  I scare monsters,
disappear once I am done.

They follow their destiny.
I follow mine.  Together, separately,
we make this world.