fire proof

you reach to touch
but you don't understand
there are stars under my skin

me,
you have never read
you have never pressed your
ear to the inner of my thigh
you

are denied access
in the swish of skirt
a handful of air

perfume
then nothing

I have learned
from the back of cereal boxes
heart no longer on my sleeve

but behind the fish sticks
and the lime green popsicles
in the back of the freezer

with my cash and my composure
fire-proof, far from flame
and the last place anyone who'd
care to find
would ever look