Ash Tray

I wrote a poem about a month ago (maybe longer?) and I shared it with some people in-person and got some good feedback, so here it is (under the read-more) for all to see.

Please don't steal it! Hahah.

Your face set my soul on fire.

I longed for your touch

like a stray dog craves a home.

When I saw you on the street
I felt a fire
somewhere separate from my chest.

Your love set my heart ablaze
A feeling like euphoria danced in the flames
I finally found someone who loved me,
and actually cared.

Your words poured acid on my brain;
a chemical burn that won't go away
was all that you gave me
when you told me
I was unattractive
and incapable of actually living

When you left, you left an ash tray
sitting in my heart.
It was all that was left after you'd torn
me apart with your words and your burns
and your firey gaze.
You set fire to my heart, in the worst
possible way.

Then from the ashes in my body
rose a phoenix
just like the last
and every time you left
you always found your way back
your face was always different
but your words were always the same.
Your heart was identical,
you just found a different name.

Nothing about him is a fire
he does not pour chemicals onto my skin
with his words
he does not hold a lighter to my heart,
yet I still melt when I am with him.
The phoenix in my body that you are reborn with still remains,
he has not killed it
sometimes you come back in the things that I say
but when he lights a candle
he holds it away
because he knows how much your words
destroyed parts of my brain.
                                                       (k.k)

So, it's basically meant to be about, like, this person going through the stages of a relationship, and then it turns sour and rids her (or him, I suppose!) of her happiness, but, like most people who's first "real love" is borderline abusive, she keeps finding herself in relationships that are the same thing over and over again. Finally, she meets somebody new who destroys the cycle and "nothing about him is a fire."

Was your take on it any different? I'm curious to know. Some people who've heard the poem have thought about different things. Perhaps this is a reflection of my abilities as a writer (and I guess that could be negative or positive, depending on how one looks at it), or just basic concepts of symbolism and how we always seem to find it in the most unintended of places. If your thoughts of the poem were any different from my intended ones, or you found some neat symbolism, I'd love to hear what you have to say! Actually, I'd love to hear what you have to say at all. Throw it at me! I can take it!