An Arsonist’s Firework Display

a brain shivers

left air drying on the floor

                    pulses echo within

but cannot fill the emptiness

the beat resonates

projecting an image on the ceiling

            ingrained by memory

which outglows the flipped negative

flashing on the back wall

a shadowed skull

hold onto odd naivety

old black and white film

    not bought then

    forgotten

photo booth prints

our sepia apartment holds warmth

like a shabby afghan

lost like a wisp of steam from a worn mug

left hanging like firework fumes

after the clumsy plummet of china

it chokes seoul

but what a magnificent final­e

Flashes of

  the present

                obscured by the smoke

                unfocused on the boney screen

        flicker with a simper