ive been straining to grow flowers
back in the places of myself
that i set on fire so long ago
but now all the roots are charred with ash
and i keep scraping away at dust-
a hopeless endeavor to clean up the asphalt that i poured upon my own skin

and the people keep clogging my ears with clamor
of who i am now
and the parts of me that were consumed
in the deterioration
relighting embers that have sunk deep down in my pores

and i wish that when i became ignited,
i had disintegrated into nonexistence