Everything is Catching on Fire
        By Suzan Krans
        
        Everything is catching on fire.
        It's been one week
        Since I ran from this place,
        And yet the embers never glowed this vibrant.
        To be a crow in a sea of corn,
        One foot tethered by a snare.
        If I was a cat,
        Could I not pounce with the greatest of ease?
        But instead I fester,
        An infectious mouse
        Staging its death in a stale basement corner.
        It's been 20 years since I ran from this place,
        Yet I continue to watch the embers
        Ripen and rot.
        And ask myself why,
        Why I never put it out.

 

Like Millions

My jaw, heavy with disbelief,

Hung loose

A little,

Much like millions.

My eyes, in agonizing glare,

Bonded tightly

To vicious pixels

For a while,

Much like millions.

My ears

Strained open

To a flatlined country,

Hoping for a single beep,

Much like millions.

But while millions

Mourn in rage

For those lost,

I mourn for a country

That’s lost its way.

             -Suzen Krans