stop assuming that i want to be a hero.
i want nothing of burning buildings
or gold ribbons.

i don’t want more—
your more is not the kind i need.
reward me, instead, with less.

when you forget me,
forget me to my face.
come see, with me,
how harrowing humanity can be.

spare me please of the plucking,
gleaning over by money-stuffed palms,
greased-up with thorn-drawn blood:
a short bill to pay
when building bouquets.

share with me please,
the price you’ve prescribed
for bottom shelf brand human being.
what else do I owe?
what must I lose to live?

or,
if it’s easier,
to die? — the way i wish:
a ****,
tucked in the crack of old cement,
unseen by all but sun and rain.
safe and cheap, or free.

or free.
or free to be, left in my invisibility.