thursday night

i blow out the tri-wick candle cupped in the palms of my hands
to say goodnight to myself.
the flames flicker, they dissipate
and the slender smoke fills my face.
and the hot liquid wax
ripples like dancing toes in an arizona swimming pool in the springtime
smells like sweet perfume like champaca bloom like fresh fern like my grandma's beach
bungalow in san clemente.
i hear smashing ocean waves, i see ripples in an arizona swimming pool.
i can taste the salty pacific air, i can see the sonoran sunset like water colors
in the sky.
where am i?
i almost dip my fingers into the hot liquid-soon-to-be-solid substance:
hot wax
bring me back
to reality.
hot wax drip over me.
hot wax
take me back
to arizona swimming pools in the springtime
to sonoran sunsets like water colors in the sky.
where am i?
hot wax
bring me back.