Kiss Me While The House Is On Fire
Smoke alarm screaming in the hallway
pot on the stove boiling down to a charcoal mess
Windows fogged, email pinging
laundry mountain mocking my stress
You walk in juggling plastic bags, keys in teeth
see the disaster and just grin, Turn off the burner
wave a towel, and pull me out of the spin I’m in.
Bills on the table
red letters from people who don’t know my face
Stain on the ceiling growing like a map of this whole sinking place
The world outside is throwing punches
neighbors yelling through the wall
You drop the groceries, step in close
and catch me before I fall. The house might not make it through the decade
hell, this week might break us in two
But in this exact second, in this ruined kitchen
the only real thing is you.
Kiss me while the house is on fire
while the pan burns and the phone rings
While everything screams for attention and the future shows its teeth and stings
Press me against the counter
breathe smoke and laughter into my lung
If the world wants to fall apart
let it wait while I taste the fight on your tongue.
We aren’t ignoring the notices or the dates circled in red on the door
We aren’t pretending we’re magic or that we aren’t tired and poor
We just picked a moment to flip the bird to the grind
A pause button in the wreck that nobody else could find. We patched these walls with duct tape and bad jokes and cheap beer
Fought in this doorway
screamed words that we wished we didn’t hear
Then picked them up, owned the cuts
and wiped away the tear.
Kiss me while the house is on fire
while the pan burns and the phone rings
While everything screams for attention and the future shows its teeth and stings
Press me against the counter
breathe smoke and laughter into my lung
If the world wants to fall apart
let it wait while I taste the fight on your tongue.
Some couples get sunsets, beaches
hotel balconies with clean white sheets
We get cracked tiles, sirens outside
a radiator that never quite heats
I’d still pick this busted life with you over a perfect photo with a stranger
You know where the panic pills are
you know how to spot the danger.
Leave the pot, open the window
let the alarm scream till it dies
Kiss me while the house is on fire, love
right here where the smoke flies.