The Burning

The Burning

And there are other reasons I burned the mattress.

I learned to sleep standing up against the wall

The moon cast a shadow on the mattress

of the both of us when we were children.

You were in your bug phase

The one where we researched the bugs that could exist

in a house with no couches, no tables.

You told me, “They smell like cumin.”

But I couldn’t smell it

We checked our bodies

Cleaned our couches

I still have the vacuum cleaner

It was 400 dollars.

You were married, that’s the one thing I never say

It was a girl who worshipped me

Her name was almost like mine.