Fire purifies,
the same as water.

Both clean away the dirt
both inside
and outside.

Yet both
unchecked
can lead to
erasure-
removal-
destruction.

A glass of water
isn’t the same
as an ocean wave.

A campfire
isn’t the same
as a wildfire.

We need both elements
to be alive,
to be human.
Yet both can reduce us
to nothing.

Without both
we are nothing.
But with both
we are the same
sometimes.

Control is part of it.
Water needs a bucket
or a glass.
Fire needs a ring of stones.

Both can quench the other.

Pick your poison
but really your cure.