Spontaneous Combustion #89
May 1998


I sit here, 
a moment 
of silence

taught to have respect for things that are dead.

I wonder 
if I kept a low flame,
would i burn?

spontaneous combustion 

A woman sits 
in her chair
and moments later,
a monument of ash .

her pink legs dangling
why 
     do the furthest 
appendages never burn?

Why haven't I blown up yet?

Sitting in my chair
I wait. 
It's in the mail, 
along with publishers 
clearing house.

I may have already won.