Fireworks over the parking lot.

The Fourth splits into the number

of nights I've been away from you.

Sparks of hair, a flower of flames

for your face. When we drive away,

I see cars dragging their wheels,

stuck in the past of a traffic jam .

My friends play with their daughter.

Did you like when it boomed?

You can have a cookie at dinner.

No, honey. I'm not ready to be home.

Your gifts, in my room, on my mind.

How you said we'd look at Christmas

lights in the park. A skinny snowman

reminding you of me. Flickering

reindeer, herded above our heads,

carried you to Seattle on a sleigh.

You wanted to make fun of elves.

I refuse to be patriotic today.

What has the flag done for me?

This nation flares between us.