the hair
on fire
again

the hair
and the pants
and the hills
and the heart

it was all so confusing,
but at least we knew that
they weren’t in their real bodies

everything aflame
everything apain
everything thus named

shot in the back
fire fire
burning burning
the heart
the fire

voice of forced concern
“We don’t want to hurt you.”

the warm right
the caring
fire fire

“We’re afraid.”
“We’ve never seen this before.”
“We can’t imagine
anything will hurt you.”

the warm right
such concern
for some life
for some hearts
     so warm within
some chests
fire fire fire

the elite
call the elite
elite
the plebians call for
fire fire fire fire
pain

“Just relax,” they say,
“You don’t have to do this today.
You can go back to sleep, if you want.”

the warm right
the caring
the fire
the fire
always the fire
always the flame