molotov prayer
March 1, 2018
two days ago i forgot to shower
and it nearly dried my skin
to cotton rag
soaked in kerosene.
four days ago i let my flame
sputter out, gasping &
trying to set smoke aflame
unburnt fuel never catches
to whom do i owe this malady
(self-ignition isn’t rare
but i’d prefer to be
the cocktail than the conclusion)
can i diagram each
ridge & valley
in carbon footprint?
i want to set fire to every family tree
turn backlit to the world and scream
strangerness. scream smoke through my lungs
and alveoli bellows liver turned crisp
& skull charred scream & set a
wax museum ablaze scream
some portraiture devoid of family scream of
roman candles on mantle signifying nothing
only gunpowder scream of what could’ve been what
i could be what i would scream to
each arsonist’s wish: to dig up coffins and
plunge them into Centralia’s
fireplace maw
scream
this is not so much a prayer
as it is a plea; when i combust
let me drop the match