I am a dragon 

Made this why by twists of health and history, a fate that made my ability to breathe fire the only predictor of my ability to live 

No one tells you that ptsd comes with physical symptoms, that the nightmares and insomnia and daydreams that cause panic attacks in grocery stores and church 

come with heartburn, cramps, a body awash with the complete inability to digest food, so that I learned 

to hate food, to subsist on my body’s own production of acid. After acid became my regular food and fuel 

the match that has been waiting in the back of my throat since the first time my mother slapped me was ready to do the rest.