Ode to an Enemy (2023)

You were not some steppingstone. 

You were not some era

nor a blemish; not some dybbuk 

in a filthy box that collects

dust and ire in the farthest 

reaches of my mind. 

You are no tool,

no example nor 

lesson.

You are instead a fiery emblem

and a gift: 

one hundred petals

unfurled and

alight