Lauren Fedorko

in california they burn christmas trees on the beach
        charred pineplumes travel for miles
the scorched-out past-lives smell of singed needle, burnt bark
out with the old
            cover with new
so easy
      to shake the past year, make it float like dust
         then snuff it out
                     smoke spiraling once-flame
so easy
      to erase the sorrow of a brokenness past
tell me how to shake the hurt from my skin
          strip it from my bones) &
                howl it) to the moon
                         tell me how to bury it beneath me—plucked
            (out of heart
in california they burn christmas trees on the beach
      & they let them roar till they’re blue(black)         toppled sideways
          taken out by           the tide
they ignite their past year & bow to their new year
      & i long to know how they unknow
                 how they let go
                                        tell me how to bury memory that’s not yet dead
                                        tell me how to blend the seascape just right
             if it only takes a match
             i’ll strike one

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About the author:

Lauren Fedorko, M.Ed., is an Adjunct Professor of writing at Rutgers University, teaches AP and Honors high school English, and advises a creative writing club for her students. Her passion for writing is longstanding and ongoing, composed mostly of poetry and creative non-fiction. She enjoys exploring, photography, good company, and traveling the world every chance she gets. Her work has previously been published in the Kelsey Review.