Burnouts

Burnouts


I pull my fingers to my mouth
trying to suck the pain from the burn
applied by the stove.


Pulling it out
looking paste the saliva shine
at the milky red spot.


I taste it again.
Usually I would taste salt
but now it's just chicken limp in the pan.


I drifted into the thought again
of the sliding wheel.


I'm gonna season this more,
cause I'm tired of not tasting anything
and the dry taste of nothing in my mouth.


I forgot to set the salad in the fridge
and the greens are soggy
and the peeled apples a tinge of brown.


The timer is failing
braking to long past it's stop.


I'm on the phone with mom again
and breasts are burning on the stove again
cause I just can't bring myself to stop.


I'm banging my head on the wall
waiting for a firm seat rest to bang back.


And it's a burned dinner for one again tonight.


-Matthew Koutzun