Montag
/Larry Narron
instead of my heart, a fire
salamander crawls
on my sleeve.
kerosene tongue
licking flames,
licking black
smoke back into ink.
above the inferno,
an illegible cursive
curls,
spills over into
margins of stars.
some letters
seem humbler,
their descenders
reclining
below the horizon.
a language perhaps
even i could learn
if i tried.
Author’s Statement: This is a persona poem about Montag, the protagonist of Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451. I was inspired to write it after reading the novel with my 8th Graders last fall.
Larry Narron grew up in Southern California. His poems have appeared or are forthcoming in Phoebe, Bayou, Puerto del Sol, Redivider, and The London Magazine, among others. They've been nominated for the Best of the Net and Best New Poets.
