Checking out

There is a fire that burns, a fire so bright you have to shield your eyes, but it is trapped.
Caged but not diminished forced to hibernate in rusting armour, the joints stuck, the movements stiff and fractured.
The fire endures its crumbling captivation, smouldering in damp, dark corners.
The fire is what it always was, everything that created it is its constant kindling, it will always burn with an intensity that can’t be smothered by restraints.
Its reason to burn, its spark, is failing.
Just staying alight is not existing.
Its embers fading from bright white to charcoal retreating into itself.
Soon it will escape.
It will be different.
But it will be free.