String Theory
By Serene Daoud
Within one day
there are a dozen
thousand lives
that well up before me
I set them on fire
with magnifying eyes
the options dwindle
and the flame licks itself clean
my daily mound
of dusty afterthoughts
i'm still waiting for
a phoenix to emerge
******************
"Cross the stream, you fool!"
Alice chastises,
"the grass has never been greener."
"But which side?" I ask,
"yours or mine?"
"Will it matter so much
once winter sets in?"
The patterns on her dress
are set with tiny mirrors;
each one reflects a
fraction of me
each piece older than
the next
each spelling a whole
of me alone.
