I am fruit snacks and dragon tales.
I am trips to the Cape and tan lines.
I am country music and pearl earrings.
I am black raspberry ice cream and late night drives.
I am yoga at noon and apple picking in the fall.
I am Loud.
I am Loved.
I am Alive.

Leaking down the side,
buildings melt
inside walls.
Mocking  drug
induced families
under ceilings
among red,
glazed eyes.
Kites fly,
and green grass snaps
under a stiff
shoe.

Sewage
creeps from beneath
the field where kids play.
Geese, in V formation.
Leaves drift to the
yellow grass. Souls
forsaken by time.

Fenced in field
Surrounded by brick
rising, expanding
into the past
thirty years.
The building is leaking
and still
rising.

Why did you burn me, Fire? Constantly
screaming, jagged in breath, while desperate
for attention-- Where's your dignity?
You've been asking for attention, reaching
for our hands, snapping towards scorched
palms you bubbled, inflated with infection.
I flinch when you spark back to creation.
You've cracked within pressure, Fire,
molten at the core, insensitively lost,
but you, Fire, you lost yourself within
heated monetary discussions--
You seek for growth, demolishing
the path you take.  I can only blame
myself though, Fire. I'm the one who
encouraged, blew on your embers,
empowering your ideals, starting rampages
that engulfed forests and plains. Leaves
dared to love you, now burnt--
You've lost yourself, Fire. Will you
ever let your guard down again?

The amber bottle rested on the cozy
while you tossed back *****. Crackling
over ice, popping to the warm quake
tumbling down your throat. Voices
to the right bounced, shot *****
into pockets, towards the corner
sulking after being hit. You've sipped
your dignity, having an allergic reaction,
your eyes cursed, blood stained
glasses diced palms, attached
with glass in hope of feeling numb.