—I BROKE DOWN LAST WEEK AND COULDN’T PICK MYSELF BACK UP

gaslight days

today’s

another

gaslight

everything

wonky

flashlight

pupils

popping

like hot

grease

or a liquid

migraine

on the surface

of the lake

or else it’s

the fireplace

talking shit

spreading panic

like it’s

cheap

sunshine

and I know

I know that

fireplaces

can’t speak

but

it takes

sleight of hand

to make sense

of these

pyrite moments

neighbors toting

guns

by the storefronts

cities shrieking

nearly

every place

a combustible

tinderbox

infused with

gasoline and

an eternal

flame

so I tell

the fireplace

to shut

the fuck up

I tell the lake to

recuse itself

and man up

I tell myself

don’t be an idiot

breathe

relax

look for beauty

even if it’s

not there