#233 BOOM

I’m a high-wire act

In a low brow town

They all want me to fall

But all I can do is drown

The levy it broke

Water came rushing in

Making a lake of this town

With only the church steeple marking our sin

It was our fault

My little group and I

We were playing with fire

I can’t even remember why

A bonfire pyre

As tall as city hall

Soaked in kerosene

Lit off and the fire was like a wall

Heat blistered our skin

All my hair burned off

We ran for our lives

And that’s when the propane lit off

Storage tanks not 50 yards away

Blame the liquor or our stupidity

It’s the same result either way

The explosion leveled half the city

Knocked out by the concussion

I came to breathing water

I sat up sputtering

Deaf and half drowned as it were

Blood running from my ears and nose

I stared incredulously at the water all around

I had been one of the lucky ones

I’d been taken out on the high ground

The hill in the park

Became my island in the storm

A few others struggled in

We huddled to keep warm

The bonfire long extinguished

The propane farm a deep black bole

The levy ripped open just beyond

Displaying a 100 yard hole

I looked around

Nothing making a sound

Not the rushing water

Not the animals

Nor the people and their screams

I hung my head and wept

At the terrible spectacle of the scene

I waded out and started swimming

Looking to help and make good

Not knowing if I could

Certain though, that I should