Movie tickets
Prom pictures
Love letters
Art Work
Gifts
Cards

Piece by piece
Into the aluminum pan I use every December to make Chex Mix
that I set on the grill
for safety

My lighter is hard at work

It’s harder to burn all this paper than you might think
Not emotionally
But actually

It burns quickly but then smolders

I keep flicking the lighter onto new pieces
again and again like a prayer
burn
baby
burn

Some of the past burns like poetry –
the colorful sketch you made of our ambigram names
the card that says you never want to lose me
the anniversary message that says I am the best thing that ever happened to you and you want another two hundred anniversaries

Some of the past burns with irony —
the parts of cards that burn next to each other:
“I’m sorry” the front of one card says.
While the one burning next to it says,
“I can live without you…”