the cognitive dissonance of a woman in nurse's scrubs chasing you down for a beating

I found myself

engulfed in flames

seeking verisimilitude by

dipping matchbox cars in gasoline.

fire prevention week

meant posters on on the walls in the halls

Stop Drop and Roll!

said

My accomplice, excited to finally get one right.

I buried my charred clothes,

pencilled in new eyebrows--

suspicious & surprised.

the high hum of her little grey fiat

pulling up the drive

what in god’s name have you been into,

she said before the screen door clapped shut.

Plausible deniability, observation, diversion:

Umm... this and that. You look tired. Are you hungry?

cannibalized eulogy

love was not control

It was liberty

the people she loved,

knew they were loved

an autographed punch by Muhammad Ali

you want it to

swell
blossom blue
both eyes shut

I need my body

to wash dishes,

drive to work,

walking the dog forever underwater

noses poking for air.  maybe the

tide recedes

New life, uncharted, uncertain without her