There’s a fire burning inside of me whenever I grasp my pen and squeeze the rubber grip that presses down on my yellow legal pad. The words begin to flow from within my being onto the paper and the fire continues to rage. The small idea is an ember that intensifies in flame and smoke as it rises from my core, into my brain and out onto the pad. The idea is incarnate and it is mine and I am one with this creation.

The fire is inferno and it’s stoked by my surroundings and my teachers and the laughs and cries of the realities that surround me. I am a Phoenix engulfed by creativity and vision and I exhale poem and prose and story that illuminate darkness. Structures of hate and avarice are engulfed by my words as the flames rise.

I am fire. Fire rages within me every time I write.

*The opinions and ideas expressed are solely those of the author, and may not reflect the opinions of The Bronx Brand*

What Herbert Norat loves most about the Bronx is the diverse group of people that call our beautiful borough home. You can drive from a pub on City Island to a Jamaican restaurant in Gun Hill and shoot over to Little Italy for gelato. It’s all here.

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IG: @machoherb