Everything Burns

It burns,

Everything burns.

My mind, my body, my very soul,

Everything burns.

Every breath is agonizing,

Because it burns,

Because...she's here.

It burns,

Every nerve in my body burns,

But my heart is hammering,

Because she's here.

And that's all I'm able to think of,

Though everything burns.

The air around me feels hyper-charged,

As though a storm is brewing,

Right here, right now,

But I manage a slow swallow,

Trying to ignore how everything burns.

Our eyes meet then,

And I start to take in everything.

How her hair curls slightly at the ends,

How it brushes the smooth nape of her neck,

How the silver adorns her throat,

How her bright lips glisten as they part slightly,

How the pink caresses her high cheeks,

And how her eyes,

Those bewitching eyes,

Sparkle with humour,

Entrancing me immediately.

She smiles at me,

Out coming her dimples,

And my heart constricts.

And suddenly, I'm all too aware,

That everything burns.

Sparks are shooting down me,

And there is nothing more I want to do,

Than walk down and sweep her up in my arms.

I want to hold her,

Tell her how beautiful she looks,

But my legs are stuck,

Stuck as though in cement.

It burns,

Everything burns!

I can her my heart now,

Clearly, above the music,

I'm sure that everyone else, too,

Can hear its erratic beat.

My fists are clenched,

Hopefully hiding the slight shake.

I should take a step,

I must,

I have to!

I-

Her eyes drift away from mine,

And rove on,

Until they stop on something a little behind me.

And just like that,

the fire in my soul stumbles.

My fists are unclenching now,

My heart silent,

The fire not gone,

But changed,

Now burning cold,

So cold,

Like ice in my veins,

And it burns.

I don't need to look back,

To know what caught her attention.

Because I see it,

In the way her eyes soften,

The way her smile turns a shade shyer,

And her hands begin to fidget.

I see it,

The look in her eye,

And everything burns,

Because that look is how I look at her,

Because she's never looked at me,

Not in the way I want her to,

Not in the way she's looking at him now.

I close my eyes,

As agony ripples through me,

Like shards of ice through my heart.

Everything burns!

Because to her,

He is the only man she's seeing,

While I,

I'm just the boy who teases her,

I'm just the boy who troubles her,

I'm just that boy,

But he,

He's the man.

My stomach is twisting,

Squeezing,

And it burns,

Everything burns.

I turn away quietly,

Not willing to watch any longer,

And I slip out of the room.

Standing in the moonlight,

Trembling with the urge to destroy,

To splatter something, anything,

Against the wall,

And maybe crack the burning ice in me,

But yet,

Standing so still,

Because the tears threaten to fall.

I breathe in the night air,

Hungrily, heavily,

Hoping it will help,

But with every breath,

I see her smile,

Aimed not at me,

But him.

And as I slump down to the floor,

Defeat visible in my lines,

I let out an almost imperceptible sob,

Unable to hold it in any longer,

Because it burns,

Everything burns.