The other day I found a flag burning.
I stepped on it with old shoes
and imagined a whole nation crying in pain.
Red streaked against my eyes.
Fire was in my eyelashes.
I dreamed the whole world broke into war.
Even the children were cruel,
throwing grenades over lollipops,
shooting rifles over monster trucks and G.I. Joe’s fallen boot.
There were guts everywhere, and no one was safe.
I saw a priest take his wooden cross and shove it down a nun’s throat.
Salvation, he called it.
I awoke to stars between my blinds.
Their shadows glowed against my sheets.
I thought of diving into space,
and leaving gravity behind.
I wanted to know what it was like to watch the Earth turn.