"June (V)" by Giovanni Dania

June (V)

From the window of my office suite,
I look twelve stories down:
The scurrying ants don't look like people
But rather like so much kindling.
Yes, I think we need a flood of fire to consume us.
This time there will be no Ark to protect anyone.
This seems a lovely idea to me.

Look at them, running about,
Panic accompanied the ruthless flames.
I laugh triumphantly from my office suite,
But they can't hear me through the thick corporate glass,
Or through their own howls of incalculable pain.

Let all of them suffer, spare not a soul:--
Spare not the aged, spare not the young,
Spare not the weak, spare not the strong,
Spare not the loving, spare not the hateful.
None is worthy of saving!

Well, the copier is done, I turn back to my task,
Turn away from the phantom inferno.
But I curse mutely as I look at the first page:
Damn! A typo....
The fires must begin anew.

June 10, 2003