“fire escape and trying to find peace on Park“ was published in the 2023 issue of Miscellany.
fire escape and trying to find peace on Park
Caught another smoke too soon
emerald green night life out the window
of her pale, plaster-lined one bedroom
and I laughed under that hand-sowed,
each stitch stretched too tight under her arm
fuchsia and piss stained pillow.
The smoke billowed out after neighbor's alarm
Alice lurched and shook the mantel
below we watched the fluorescent red light swarm-
she told me that would be her own personal hell
the neighbor's kitchen flooded with firemen
carrying out waste-basket sardine tins. Burnt plaster fell
between each doorframe. Went searching for my pen
and Alice pulled at my shirtsleeve
we hid beneath the powder room door stand.
I saw two clear-crumpled fortune cookies
nestled underneath her freshly painted
pantry shelves. The cookie crumble and new pleasantries
exchanged for every little thing we each hated
until Alice motioned to the window
street silence, kitchen fire sedated.