Eyeglass by Connor O'Ryan (19, Oregon)

Emptiness 
Is an empire of spirit 
Her kerosene spilled on my sheets 
I lost my eyeglass in the ensuing flames 
As it melted 
I thought of last night’s sunset 
Maybe the sun will disfigure my memory

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You saw that house in the distance 
I yearn so badly to paint it in the summer
I’m not sure why 
The smell of oil in the walls 
Reminds me of casual Friday 
And frozen nightmares 
Nightingales can’t comprehend my fears
Though they try to console me with their songs
They don’t see the beauty 
And terror in my heart 
When I witness the luminescence 
And geometric burns 
Of my stale white sheets 
A sad, deflated ghost 
Doesn’t know who to haunt anymore 
No, I don’t understand the gravity of my situation
Just as the moon isn’t aware of it’s glow
And my ghost is in chains 
And the ignorance 
In the quiet charred remnants 
The failed curiosity 
Of my eyeglass​