Today is not a day for dancing
today things feel hot and heavy in my hands,
my hair wraps too tightly around my scalp,
the air is too loud and too damp.
Today is a day for walking on eggshells
and pulling the pins out of my lungs (deflate my soul)
today is not a day for dancing
today the sun dries out the cornfields
and last year’s news drifts abandoned down the street.
Today I light a fire and it devours me –
today is a day for rapture and consumption.