One Woman's Fire

One woman discovered
She could wipe away
Anything with fire
Make it disappear
Irretrievably—her

Husband’s sad fashions
Her mother’s love letters
From someone named James
Even the notes she herself
Should never have thought

Anything she could get
Into the grill and soaked
In sweet burning fluid
And some things she could not
More than a corner

At a time but with
Patience even those
One woman discovered
Could be wiped away
Irretrievably—with

Fire, with flame, even
Memories so harsh
Even those she discovered
She could wipe away
One corner at a time