The Fire WIthin

Resentment - deep, dark, seething within
Straining to escape - to erupt- spewing hatred everywhere.
Like a volcano harming all in its path.
The innocent and the deserving face the same sentence
And they are eternally condemned.

Pushing it deeper within.
Containing it with an iron will
Until fear, loneliness and stress wear her down
Sapping her of the strength such a mighty task requires
She struggles on exhausted,
But each day, more lava seeps forth
Scalding those closest to her core - her very heart.

Gradually it spreads further and further moving on to harm others
Friends and even complete strangers cannot escape her wrath.
She cannot contain it any longer.
And, bit by bit, as the terrible pressure is eased by the outflow.
She wonders how she contained it within for so long and why?

Perhaps because she wanted others to treat her like she treated them-
With kid gloves and a soft heart
Perhaps because she is the sensitive, vulnerable child that she thought they were,
Not them.

Perhaps because she knew once it escaped, it would never stop
And soon she would erupt in a violent show of flame and fire
Burning all of those who she had tried so hard to protect -
Burning her soul beyond recognition in the process.

Then what would remain of her, of me, except a soggy charred mess
As my tears flow unebbed.

Afraid to find out, I dowse the fire within.