The Fires

This poem was born out of one of those weeks where everything seemed to catch fire at once. You know the kind, when one problem flares up, you pour yourself into it, and almost immediately another issue bursts into flames somewhere else. It feels like you’re running from blaze to blaze, always one step behind, always burning through yourself just trying to keep up.

I wrote The Fires in that headspace, exhausted, pulled in different directions, and wondering how much more I had left to give. Even though I’m lucky to have friends, family, and an amazing girlfriend by my side, I held back from leaning on them at that moment. Not because they wouldn’t support me, but because they were already carrying their own battles. It’s a strange, heavy feeling, wanting relief but not wanting to add to someone else’s weight.

The poem is a reflection of that tension: the quiet desperation of reaching out but recognizing the tiredness in others’ eyes. We’re all fighting fires, some visible, some hidden. And sometimes the kindest thing we can do is acknowledge that we’re all carrying more than we let on.