The edge of our seats frizzle,
the screams stick to smoke in our throats.
We watch the man on the ledge
with electric-flames exploding
the doorframe behind him.
The heat on the backs of our necks-
there is no alternative; he jumps.
five stories midair, the world
a movie stunt – he lands.
But four stories stand
between death and life
and the ladder just
doesn’t reach.
He must let go again.
And when he does,
so do the flames.
Fireballs burst through steel, walls,
windows of hell shattering.
We squint through the haze, wordless
prayers reflected and answered.
After the wave, we see that
he made it, clutching to the
ladder’s strength which
by nature will never match his own.
We gather glasses of water
and thank god the TV is only
partially sensory.
He lives.
©Dianne E. Selden
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/houston-texas-apartment-complex-rescue-from-fire-caught-on-tape/ ;http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Spotlight-on-Houston-apartment-fire-shifts-to-5350686.php
By profession, Dianne’s an American journalist-turned-political scientist, but her core-ego is a Cymru-phile with poetry and stories circulating her blood. Her collage poems and musings can be found at http://throughthewindwinding.blogspot.com/.
