Fires start in rainstorms, grandma told me once.
Behold this tangle of thorns.
The rose garden blooms by blood in the snow.
Daffodils, the willing weeds.
Roots on the waterworn cliffs, platonic pornography.
I scoop mouthfuls of her words
and fondly break into wilder sprints to boys my age
with eager ears, embittered
tongues, halos with the hollow glow of dirty little secrets.

Tom is currently pursuing a BA in Writing, Literature, and Publishing at Emerson College. His fiction, poems, and essays have been featured in Blind Corner, Teen Ink, Oddball, The Magazine, Generic, and Gauge. Tom has been recognized by the National Committee of Teachers of English and the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards.