arson

the seconds smolder
smoke rises

minutes snap
each burning more fiercely
than the last
rising up and peeling back
blackened calendar leaves

the years roll past
like a street of gutted houses
where each of us once lived
though now
loveless
wingless
abominations
left to stumble over
and salvage
what small
unspoiled
treasures
we can
on a
night
like
this



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