​But tell me of you,
            what words have you forgotten this week,

which lanterns
                 have burnt out, by hand or wind?

     Let us keep them in our mouths
together,
            so that when it all erupts they will fly

like shooting stars striking
                         the sides of the Empire State Building.
Frank G. Karioris (he/they/him/them) is a writer and educator based in Brooklyn whose writing addresses issues of friendship, masculinity, and gender. Their work has appeared or is forthcoming in Pittsburgh Poetry Journal, Collective Unrest, Maudlin House, Sooth Swarm Journal, and Crêpe & Penn amongst others. They are a regular contributor to Headline Poetry & Press.
Header image: Jesse Mills via Unsplash