Aiden K. Feltcamp
The Fire Fighter
Death is when
we notice
the irrelevant things:
my aunt’s fingers
rubbing the edges of
a pink Post-it note
on
the kitchen counter
the drops of condensation
embedded
in the sea-green paint
on the bathroom wall
the digital scale
counting
backwards
toward my birth weight
my brother singing
all
the verses of
“How Great Thou Art”
from memory
the old woman’s dinosaur eye
as she turns and strains
for an exit
the family convulsing
tightening
before it amicably
cleaves apart once more
Death is when
they ferry you away
on
a red monster
with its sirens
and wind-soaked officers
and I can stare at you
face to face
and see only myself
Aiden K. Feltkamp is a nonbinary superqueer who spends their days writing and their nights running OperaRox Productions. They specialize in flash fiction, opera libretti, and poetry. Find them at kimberlyfeltkamp.com.