Napalm
By Quan Barry
I have come to realize the body is its own pyre, that degree
rises from within, the fatty acids a kind of kindling.
Like a scientist in a lab, this much I have established, blood jelled
like gasoline, the years spread before me like a map
pinned with targets, where I’m raging even now.
It works both ways. Clear the forests to see your enemies
and your enemies see you clearly. Like all effective incendiaries,
I won’t only bloom where I’m planted.
Copyright Credit: Quan Barry, "Napalm" from the poem sequence entitled "child of the enemy" from Asylum. Copyright © 2001 by Quan Barry. All rights are controlled by the University of Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, PA 15260. Used by permission of the University of Pittsburgh Press.
Source: Asylum (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2001)