Burning Down*
Close up on withering sunflower
Pull out to reveal a head stone
Her black eyeliner as clean and dark as twenty years ago
And her blond hair as perfectly pressed
Her voice as pretty and pure as when she was a teen
Skateboarding in a tank top, suspenders, and a tie
She sings back-to-back with him
He’s covered in tattoos with green hair
Banging on his drums
I still burn for you
Her body stronger now after years
Of battling Lyme
Her music and faith saved her
Then she found this man
He was to be her third husband
But like their shared anthem
They couldn’t last
They went
Up in flames, up in flames
- © CLS Sandoval 2023
CLS Sandoval, PhD (she/her) is a pushcart nominated writer and communication professor with accolades in film, academia, and creative writing who speaks, signs, acts, publishes, sings, performs, writes, paints, teaches and rarely relaxes. She has presented over 50 times at communication conferences, published 15 academic articles, two academic books, three full-length literary collections, three chapbooks, and several flash and poetry pieces in several literary journals. She is raising her daughter and dog with her husband in Alhambra, CA.
* Inspired by Flames by Mod Sun featuring Avril Lavigne
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