The streets will be red

with soggy wrapping paper

for weeks into the new year.

Fathers teach kids about reality;

how to awkwardly light fire crackers

from a cigarette.

The kids let streaks of orange sparks

scream off above the streets and

jerk their shoulders in thick jackets at the bang.

Their shadows rush along the parked cars

and the houses,

for a brief moment enormous,

before fading in the smoky darkness

and the constant rumble of the city

taking leave of one year’s worth of life.