Mirage of Burning Things
Ryan Di Francesco
@ryan_difrancesco

so the house is still there

without me / and all the letters in the alphabet / and

there’s got to be more to it than that / there’s got to be more to it than underground
rituals in waves of light / between zodiac creatures
waiting around the wooden tables afraid of touch / beside shapeless
fires / fragments of a childhood / among branches / under
an orchard tree / in caves / among striped patterns of lilies / in search of animal
skin attached to a popsicle stick / in search of

a chunk of heart wrapped /

in pink sun / rivers / pressed / latched onto
me / them / in the open mouth of the caged / bluebird / egg /
enclosed by dots and letters / by dots and

claws multiplied by faint smells / territories /
of fish / antlers / inside
the ribs of golden / grandeur / inside the ribs of cities
in dust / inside the rib of you / me and the cat licking its paws after eating a cricket
pulsing

in august nights / starved /
at the roadside zoo / reflected in teeth