There Is a Candle On the Table

It has been sitting there longer than I have lived. It is drooping because it once was lit to light the way to the bathroom, back before you or I were born, back when candles lit people's way at night. It must be this old, for it it is so droopy and dusty. I have only just come across this relic. Good thing you are with me! I would be frightened if you weren't, for it is dark. Good thing I have this lighter! Take it and light the candle. I am far too much of a coward to light it myself. Good! The candle is lit! And now I can see the way to the bathroom! Now blow on the flame and make it flicker in familiar ways. How Comforting! Pour the flames into my hands! Let us lap the flames out of my hands! How Wonderful! Let us paint each other into the walls with the flames! I can see! I can really see! And now the house is on fire! How Fun! But look at how the candle droops now! It is crying onto the floor. It wishes it was a candle that goes on a birthday cake. Birthdays are always the best! it says. And this is the most startling of all, for at this moment, the candle goes out and we are once again wandering these dark halls, wondering where the bathroom is.

Thanksgiving

The most important thing
to remember is that at the bottom
of every mind lies a few dead
canaries. Unearthing them is no
easy task, I can assure you.
It is a bit like carving your initials
into the breast of a turkey with
just your finger. The deeper
you go, the more the turkey
quivers, until at last your finger
grazes the heart. Now, pluck
it out and watch how happily
it beats in your hand, the blood
dripping ever so softly onto the
white carpet at your parents
house, before you pop it into
your mouth and swallow it whole.

Daydream

Tomorrow, I will pack my life
into a suitcase and head
over to my landlord's

to pay off all my debts.
I will leave a note
for my room-mates-

I broke the coffee table.
There is chicken in the freezer.
Don't wait up.

I will cut out my tongue
and leave it on the counter.
I will forget my name

and never again will I
be scared to tell you
how it really feels.

And later, I will tear off
my clothes in the middle
of Arizona and leap into the sun.

It is here that you will find
me, shaking softly, smoke
still drifting out of my eyes.