This is not a drill
The building is on fire.
We are choking on smoke.
No way to the left,
no way to the right,
the executive suites are safe
but down here in the budget rooms
outlook not so good.
9-1-1 is selling your data.
The extinguishers all have legally binding end user agreements.
The fire department is gonna bill you for that water.
The ladders made by Texas school book publishers
have the ten commandments on every paper rung.
There will be genital checks at all the emergency exits.
Safety is gendered.
The people smelling of gasoline are being rescued at the helipad.
The people throwing matches are telling us that queers and immigrants
have broken the alarm system.
The Fire Marshal’s report will be heavily redacted.
Hoses are being sent to fight infernos for another country
flowing with such force children are drowning.
Jonathan S Baker‘s work can be found in several print and online publications. They are the EiC at Pure Sleeze Press and host of Indiana’s longest running and most prestigious poetry series, Poetry Speaks.
