An Emotional Cost
It was a detective’s worst fear,
after another week,
the trend was clear,
and emotions were floating higher,
an arsonist had moved here,
a brick house fire
that claimed four children,
then, a little more than a week ago,
and less than a month,
the records would show,
the arsonist torched
a welfare mother’s home,
the fire started beneath the porch,
murdering a twenty one month old,
and his seven month old sister,
even in the blazing heat
life was still cold,
as the firefighters covered the charred
with a white sheet,
death so hollow,
that it was hard for the firefighters to swallow,
the arsonist was putting life on ice,
and only small children
were paying the price,
it was an emotional cost,
and the silver lining was lost,
when it comes to children
death is loud,
as the arsonist had ripped the silver linings
out of every last little cloud.
© 2012 Frank Atanacio