Poetry & Art

I Poured Fire In a Pitcher

by M. G. Hughes • September 23, 2019

I poured fire on the flame

And it only got bigger

I poured fire on water

And the water only simmered

I poured fire in a pitcher

And lemons only charred

I poured fire on a wound

At the top of my arm

—And that was the only time it hurt

Now I pour hot water on my scars

But the scars only turn red, kinda hard

When I got to drugstore they said

‘’Well the only thing we got is Band-Aids.’’

I asked ‘’Do they work?’’

The man implied ‘’Plenty.’’

So now I’ve tried fire and water and these silly stickers

And the only thing I’ve found to work was a flicker

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by M. G. Hughes

Born and raised in the little coastal town of Oceanside, California, M. G. Hughes began writing at a young age when her grandmother, Gracie Lee Osborne Hughes, an accomplished educator, encouraged her to write in composition books. Throughout her primary school years Hughes continued to develop a passion for short stories, and it was upon reading F. Scott Fitzgerald’s book The Great Gatsby in her senior year of high school that she felt inspired to embark on a full-length novel. That story would be Margot Lee. But after experiencing a prolonged period of writer’s block with the plot, Hughes would turn to poetry for (seemingly) temporary creative relief. The rest is history.

As of 2019, and at just the age of twenty, Hughes has been featured across nine literary magazines and three anthologies. Her debut book, I Only Have Marmalade, muses themes of poetry, prose, general philosophy, and literary fiction.

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