confirmation bias

at least in our waking life

most commemoration

doubles as force

since even

the most benign

zodiacal conceptions

are tinged eurocentric

when brown women die

who is specifically responsible

for the eroticization

of our deaths?

this is not a walking

meditation

not an endorsement

of escape

survivalism

or even

getting to the source

with eyes closed

involve yourself

with the idea

remember

that you once watched

       someone you love

try to light their cigarette

with a usb stick

              and did nothing

              to intervene

following this memory

you’ve learned to triple check

fire sources and their

adjacent damage

             if you set an object on fire in the poem

             the poem rewards you by becoming deep

             if you set yourself on fire in the poem

             the poem rewards you for becoming the light

             when you become the light

             the poem says

             ok

             good job

             you’ve become

             the light