"Call me anytime.", "[Your friend is drawn to flame]"...by Amy Katherine Cannon

Call me anytime.

What else is there to say

to the friend who reveals

they plan to marry an addict

careering toward self-destruction?

Who is going in, eyes open?

I love you. I'm here for you.

I want more for you. I wish

you loved yourself more or

thought you deserved better.

I'm watching you walk into flame.

Your friend is drawn to flame

singeing herself again and again

on women who would consume

a house in minutes, whole hillsides gone.

You have become practiced

at salving burns, standing by

with cool compresses, quiet words.

Do you know what it's like

to love what will consume you?

Do you have what it takes

to love someone who does?

Prepare more clean, worn towels.

Set your face in a look of understanding.

Rock-bottom

When she crashed your car

and finally went in-patient,

you wondered whether

she would have found

her way here sooner

without you as dam

holding back what threatens

to pull you both under.

You are the addict and you are

the woman who loves her.

You are the house

and the house fire.

You understand what it is

to black out on your desires

to become them.

And you know what it is

to forgive yourself again and again

to welcome yourself home.

Amy Katherine Cannon is a writer and writing teacher living in Los Angeles. She received her MFA from UC Irvine and is the author of the chapbook "the interior desert" (Californios Press) and the mini-chapbook "to make a desert" (Platypus Press). Her work can be found in Bone Bouquet, LETTERS, LIT, and Rock & Sling, among other places.