Furnace

Furnace

By Fernando Guerrero

Winter 

I find myself talking to this girl

Warming each other despite 

The freezing cold 

I find myself not knowing what to come

 Not knowing the roaring flame was gonna 

Take over me 

Fall 

I drink the liquor

Hoping that the burning traveling down

My insides burn the furnace that once was

Hoping that it rekindles what once was

But all I get are the unpromising fumes of the bottle

Later that winter 

We talk all night

Letting the fire grow and warm us

After standing in the cold all night

When we were out there, all we thought

Was of the cold and now inside 

We couldn’t imagine what it would be like

To stand out there, to let the cold sink in

Fall 

It’s been forever

I've been trying to turn on the furnace

Even if I know it doesn’t have any wood

But maybe the cold is okay

Maybe ill be fine

I still hope the furnace turns on

Spring 

The flowers were blooming and so were we.

Every color was radiant, the world didn’t seem

So gray as it did in winter

Every restaurant was a new spot to try

Every adventure a new memory

When the rain would hit

We distracted ourselves

 with the heat of the furnace inside.

“What’s a little rain if our furnace will never go out?”

She said

Fall 

I’m tired of trying to turn on the furnace

Maybe I should check my closet

I'm bound to have a jacket in there

Right?

I keep trying the furnace

Summer 

Everything's too hot

“Why do you turn it up?!” she asks

It’s not me, I swear my house just does it

“It’s way too hot to have a furnace on,

We're damn near the middle of summer”

I’m not used to having warm summers,

“Honey, I just got excited that I get to have it on”

“I'm going to turn it off”

She walks towards it and pours the water

Now she sees the reality of the house

It’s old, cheap, and small

It has good bones though

“I can’t with this house anymore”

But it’s my house, what's wrong with it?

It’s not good anymore, this isn’t what I want

She passes the door, and that's

 when the heat dies down

Fall 

I give up on the furnace.

I can’t light it, and I don’t know what to do

It’s time to look for the sweater

I find my old sweater from when we were strangers

In the cold

Winter 

I put on my sweater, and I go out. 

I was scared, not knowing what to expect

I didn’t like the cold

It’s stiff, its painful, it makes my knees hurt

I preferred it inside with the furnace

I debate going back in the house, 

But then I remember

I came out to experience the cold, not run from it

Winter (later) 

Maybe winter isn’t so bad?

The cold feels nice

It’s unfamiliar yet welcoming

It’s the great uncle you barely know

It’s that one street you can never remember the name of

No matter how many times you've been there

Spring 

The flowers bloom

It’s me, alone

But the flowers look better alone

You don’t need anyone else to tell you

“That's beautiful”

“That's Ugly”

I finally experience it with my own eyes

It starts to rain

But im okay outside, I like the rain now after all

I come in though, my mom doesn't want me to catch a cold

Fall 

I finally stay inside, but now I look at the house

Maybe it is a little cheap

That's okay though, it’s got good bones

It’s long overdue for the remodeling now

Maybe I should do that this winter