Fire

[Philatone]

V. 2
changes: stanza 4, changed "claimed"

Fire

I saw him walk
with his ring of keys
into the kitchen,
closing the oven door
behind him.

Later, he smoked in the neighbor's garden,
coughing until midnight
as a ring of children watched.

It is getting to be a problem.

In December, a woman dialed 911
after she felt his breath on her arm
while backing out of the driveway.

Now, signs with his picture
hang on telephone poles
in black and white,
rewards attached like feathers
to a bird,

and he has disappeared.
Some put chicken on the stove and hope
he crawls through the window;
others cut power lines, leaving
candles by the door;

one man even started smoking
to have a chance
to shake his hand.

Yet, after all this,
his footsteps creak
in basements
when everyone is upstairs,

the chicken turns all shades of brown
and fills the house.

Still, no one is seen,
invisible as the water for my tea
that, somehow, turns into air.


-------------------------
Original

Fire

I saw him walk
with his ring of keys
into the kitchen,
closing the oven door
behind him.

Later, he smoked in the neighbor's garden,
coughing until midnight
as a ring of children watched.

It is getting to be a problem.

In December, a woman claimed
to feel his breath on her arm
as she backed out of the driveway.

Now, signs with his picture
hang on telephone poles
in black and white,
rewards attached like feathers
to a bird,

and he has disappeared.
Some put chicken on the stove and hope
he crawls through the window;
others cut power lines, leaving
candles by the door;

one man even started smoking
to have a chance
to shake his hand.

Yet, after all this,
his footsteps creak
in basements
when everyone is upstairs,

the chicken turns all shades of brown
and fills the house.

Still, no one is seen,
invisible as the water for my tea
that, somehow, turns into air.