FIREFLIES | Ross Vassilev

i’ve got nothing to hang on to.

not my insane family

not my idiot Bulgarian heritage

                nation of drunks
                and criminals

                nation of slaves
                serving Washington

living here in America
Third-World ghetto nation
with a First-World military

i’m sitting by the window
the dusk falling
the air is cool and smells nice
the fireflies are out

i remember once walking down
a dark alley at night

only one light on the wall
pissing through the darkness

i thought
i’m dead but i just don’t know it.