Climactic Change

Kiel M. Gregory

          I know I may be young,
          but I got feelings, too.
          —Britney Spears

Let me start by saying that I’m no slave
is the epitome of incarceration
and ignorance.

I am a puppet
and I know it.
Clap my hands.

In dreams
my nightmares find answers to
questions. Where’s the money?

I’ve done things in bedrooms
that would make your fantasies blush
just to pay my car payment;
I drive a domestic
but the internet rate on blush
can last a lifetime
even if you’re proud.

Tuition? *snickers*
You’d have to tie me up
and burn me with hot language
to get me to open up like that.

Some people have retirement accounts
bigger than the sum total of my personal wealth
and I’m just trying to keep the polar cap afloat
with my social responsibilities.

Arson is not a personality type.
I’ve heard people say We’ll cross it when we come
to it, but historically speaking, I find myself saying
I’ll burn that bridge
eventually.

Burning is want,
is consuming,
is perspective.
Take civilization, for example.