spontaneous combustion

cinders burning straw wind
clay to park liberty saratoga lexington
a factory on fire spawned men from windows
framehouses and brickhouses exploded in lightning and thunder
shouts and cries chorused into wailing prophesy
dragons pulled wagons through smoke and cinder
firefighters labored on the edge of sacrifice
crows and vultures circled updrafts high above
soaked blankets and men eclipsed the basilica.
the kindling fire in the shavings box next to the engine room
sparked from some strange density
beneath the street

park and lexington at sunrise
(an 1873 fire that burned over four blocks and more than a hundred buildings around clay and park streets was followed by an ever increasing number of smaller fires leading up the 1904 fire)