candles pt.2
my mom
never burns candles
keeps them new and holy,
wicks white and untouched
likes to keep up appearances
buys new bed frames and rugs
but therapy is too expensive
I think therapy is a match she refuses to light
see, how she hates the melted wax
hates how the light dances chaotically on her walls
when I enter her house
I am a wick on fire
I am the dancing shadows
match in hand,
I, must be contained
As I am second hand store dresses
I can’t wait to show off
she is eye rolls
can’t stand the idea of anything used
of anything burned
says I cause second hand embarrassment
I am the candle wax she must wipe off the floor
I am the messes she’s made
when we go on a walk
the breeze chills my bones
I put on jackets in spring weather
she cannot stand a daughter warmed
tells me
if only I dressed better
the men would keep me around
the men
are smoking heroin
the men
are getting drunk...