Fire

As I walk around these fiery streets I see

So much more than what seems to be there

My vision fails me so profoundly

But my soul reaches like a radar with a conscience

And it knows of all the tendencies

Of their yearning, sleepy faces

Skilled pilgrims that get drunk

Off the thought of where

There people might be.

Over there’s the bum

That watches the flames in the barrel like

Shut in dreamers watch their phones

And the reflection of the fire in his face

I see in all their faces

The business men and the bus boys

The waitresses and and taxi drivers

The grocery clerks and factory workers

And every person trying to burn their way

To some coast they’ve never seen.

And as the burning streetlights wake up for the night shift

I only see the inferno in these cracked streets get hotter

And for every fire at full blaze I see others dim

But never less than a pilot light

Everywhere I see fire, ready to ignite another

Anywhere, anyone, anything that will catch