Tinderbox Poem by Raj Dronamraju

Karen, you killed the world
And in doing so made it and us more beautiful
For us, we shiver and spin and shiver and spin in endless repeating exhaustion of unfocused living energies
That metered out teaspoon drip drip drip of joy that instead should flare out brilliantly in firework bursts

Paralyzed with curtain rod uselessness, no curtains = no way to take control of the light of the day
Watch what you do to the sun in your room and the corners where it doesn't reach
Let it bronze the skin for a facade of good health

Matches that beg for the attentions of a smoker or someone lighting a gas stove or kindling in a fireplace
It's not enough to know you're alive, stuff all the spaces with oily rags and proceed in a way that defies safety regulations

I deliberately made this fuse very short
So it will explode before I reach cover
After a while they'll plant seeds in the sooty soil
Producing a blossom whose efforts in growing are a tribute to the quality of existence