Airport Ashes

by Sophia Peterson

 

There’s a dead man in my Jansport

at the Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport –

Do I have to pay the overweight baggage fee?

 

He slides along the conveyor belt,

“Don’t worry, it’s just another x-ray”

I whisper to my bag.

 

Eyebrows furrowed, hands all over him,

don’t ignore the sticker!

“Fragile: handle with care”

 

They’ve found me out.

My urn…

supposedly filled with gunpowder.

 

Though, I would be cautious 

putting that in a gun,

especially if you’re playing

 

a game of russian roulette.

I promise you, 

no good luck is attached to it

 

And the only thing 

it ever made explode was my temper.

So please give him back.

 

Let me stuff him next to my black dress

And then we can pretend 

there is no dead man in my Jansport.