NAPO 9

Today's prompt was to write a list poem. I decided to list some of the things you really shouldn't touch, but sometimes you do it anyway.

All the Things You Shouldn’t Touch

A hot stove will scald your fingertips—

You learn this quickly as a child,

Anything that glows orange,

Anything illuminating,

The colors of fire.

You learn not to touch

The electric socket

For the same reason.

It bites, shakes you awake.

Don’t touch the shards of glass

On the kitchen floor

From the plate you dropped.

You won’t touch the edge of a knife

Against your fingertip, not even a little,

Not even to savor the warmth

Of crimson on your skin.

Don’t touch the dead—

The sparrow that crashed into the window.

You know better than to touch the hill

Of fire ants with your bare toes,

Unless you want to feel

A million fangs,

A million sparks of fire.

Maybe you’ll poke it with a stick

To watch the soldiers well up

In an army made of rage.

Don’t touch anything that can hurt you

except the burning fire of a lover’s heart.

You brush your palm against his cheek.

You touch your lips to his.

You run your fingers through his hair.

You brace yourself for the inevitable—

The burn.