I lied when I said

I could be anything

but a dragon

with a primal wound

who could hold back

a nature I was trying

so hard to shed

but the damage was

beneath the scales

where good intentions

could not exfoliate

the self preservation

it takes to keep a monster

upright in the day

and I couldn't

learn to face

that my armour

was too weak

to take the lance

when taking it

was the only choice

to keep what 

I loved safe

so I will build 

the fires now

with my fires

to leave in the places

where I hide

and then hide

from those places too

fires for warming

existing beyond

my breath

from the heart

but on the ground

as embers in the dark

let go

but be cautious 

still

for I am a liar

who turns her 

own promises

to ash