After Mrs. Kauffman goes to work
I drop a match on her house and run back to the kitchen
drinking a glass of water as flames
swallow her windows, the sitcom living room set
&nsbp;
I go out to get the newspaper and
gouts of smoke are not like
thunderclouds—lavender, mint, salmon
colors of this confectionary suburbia
&nsbp;
and the air does not blacken
my throat but instead
coats it in a Baskin Robbins parlor
And when you get home from work
the flames savoring themselves and
you mow her lawn and afterwards
&nsbp;
you walk through the front door
violets in your hands for me and your work suit
is now like a garden of poppies
&nsbp;
Born and raised in Upper Darby, Kristen’s finishing up her final semester at Susquehanna University. Her poetry has been featured in Glass Mountain, The Round, APIARY and elsewhere. She hopes to attend an MFA program in the fall.