before the crime report, there was only this
03.18.04
____________________________________

thinking of flowers blooming
of poetry written in the velvet night
and of a cold gasp of air through the trees--
thinking of the flowers,
burning

stop

please

stop

after a while, it's easier
to just swallow these
words and think of the sky

warm blue stretching out overhead like a deep breath,
unhurried and pure

(stop)