POETRY

Isaiah
For Marc de Saverio
Before I stuck out my tongue to receive the coal-
lump, plucked from flames by a fire-proof
hand, my lips were frozen, verging on frostbite,
tongue icebound in my palate’s clenched roof:
I saw my own ruin, numb by all I’d heard.
Then, a mouthful of cinders and roving sparks
stoked me to speech; molten vowel and seething
consonant erupted to my gullet, syllable
upon smoky syllable, ’til it was time to ignite
the world, and melt it with just the Word.
Daniel Wade is a poet, playwright and novelist from Dublin, in the Republic of Ireland. His debut collection Rapids was published by Finishing Line Press in August of 2021, whilst his novel A Land Without Wolves will be published by Temple Dark Books in October of the same year.
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Artwork: “Isaiah 6” (Public Domain).