Her fire story is
26 years old
tonight. Even older
than the one about

an idol who jumps off
a stage into her reality
for a few brief
breathless moments.

Before it goes up
in flames. A reenactment
of Purple Rose of Cairo
before she saw the movie.

Sometimes we steal
from the collective
imagination first.
Sometimes it takes a long time.

26 years for her
to think of the birds
that lived in the nest
those roofers torched by mistake.