Inside, I'm a Dragon

"Misc" by Nick Francher

I nod, I apologize, I always smile. I string everyone

along with gentle love, so they’ll never leave.

I make sure they like what they see.

But I want to lash out, bend bars, break

the cage. I have captured myself

for too long, tamped down all flame and thorn.

Niceness is a skirt I no longer fit.

I refuse to zip myself in.

I want to be beautiful in my anger,

like an avalanche. I want to be beautiful in my resistance,

like a granite slab. I want to be beautiful

in my self-centeredness, like a rooted tree.

I want to make art bigger than rooms—I want

to make rooms big enough to contain

all my spirit. I want to blaze.