Burn in One Day
The sidewalk was in
Searing heat all day
Was dripping into
The street in seconds
Bled into minutes
And in them stood
The old woman
Outside her home
Stood a life size
Toy fire truck
Stood twenty
Scrambling men
Fell all of her
Possessions into ash
And she told
One of the fighters
For the rest of her
Years would burn
Her grandmothers watch
The wedding gown for
Daughters
The tea set from
Friends
The table from China
Her life old piano keys
For the rest of
Her years she
Stood crying
“Would these things
Burn in my mind”
While her hand fell
On her shoulder she smiled
The fighter had listened
And the hoses water stopped
To let the fire burn itself out
Said he, “I hope to relieve your doubt.”