And this is how the house falls down

With forty-five spectators and a bucket of ash

With little boys blowing it kisses like rockets

With rubble like chalk dust coating everyone’s faces

With no way to know which direction that pillar will fall in

With twelve newborn kittens directly in its path

With the snapped necks of plumbing spinning like sprinklers

With spoiled cartons of milk tumbling out of the fridge

With the fish tank starting an electrical fire

And the boys blowing kisses, and the boys blowing kisses

And the foundation still gasping,

swallows them whole.

LAURA FAIRGRIEVE received her MFA from Adelphi University, where she currently teaches. She is a 2016 recipient of the Poets & Writers Amy Award. Her work has appeared in Underwater New York, Inscape Magazine, Ink in Thirds, The Bitchin' Kitsch, East Coast Ink, and Words Dance Publishing. She lives in Brooklyn. Contact her at laurafairgrieve.com.