(they don't)

the streets burn. 
everything burns
but still the words won't come. i have
lost every sense of significance to the fires
that took all the homes i 
loved, and now there is always ash; ash or ember.
i am asked, daily, to put that damn lighter out, to 
extinguish that flame and 
i keep listening, keep thinking 
if i give just enough they'll keep
me, just a little longer

(they don't).