Day 958

The whole building is burning.
A woman’s two arms
have been severed;
how will she lift her children
out of the flames? A toddler
someone dragged out
is screaming in pain.
In terror. Who
will tell us his name? Who
is left, of all those
who were sheltering
there, to take care
of him now? Mothers
and children, children
racing downstairs with other
children’s mothers —
trapped in the firestorm, all
ashes now. Ashes.
Indistinguishable now
from the remains
of tables and beds
and wooden floors.