Match Box At The Bus Stop

At the bus stop

After you left me at the bus stop 

I found a boy sitting on the sidewalk 

This is what he did 

He pulled out a box of matches 

And shook it. 

When he slid it open it was full

Match after match lined up like skyscrapers in the city sky.

And as I watched him,( Alone, I had nothing to do, after you left me)

He struck match after match on the box

And the match would strike but not light 

And again and again and then break 

And so we went through match after match until when he was halfway through 

A flame, a fire, a phoenix trailed in the sky 

And he watched with wonder and i looked with pride 

At this boy sitting on the sidewalk 

Striking matches at a box.

And then shook the box again 

Still holding the flame in his other hand

Marvelously proud flamboyant flame, she was, she curved and quivered in the dark 

And one by one with three fingers

He took out every match and broke it

And i watched with wonder and he looked with pride

Until there were no matches left

And so there were none

But the flame in his hand

I waited at the bus stop alone, for no one for no reason 

As this boy read poems to the flame

Slowly she pulled out her night sky veil

And began to cover

I turned my eyes away. 

In a while the boy shrieked, and then resisted and then threw the flame onto the street.

The rain buried her body and we wept at her grave.