From The Triangle Fire
- From The Triangle Fire
I.Havdallah
This is the great divideby which God splitthe world:on the Sabbath sidehe granted rest,eternal toilingon the workday side.But even onerevolution of the worldis an empty promisewhere bosseswhere bills to payrespect no heavenly bargains.Until each day is ourslet us pourdarkness in a dishand set it on fire,bless those who laboras we pray, praise Godhis holy name,strike for the rest.
2. Among the Dead
First a lace of smokedecorated the air of the workroom,the far wall unfoldedinto fire. The elevator shaftspun out flames like a bobbin,the last car sank.I leaped for the cable,my only chance. Woven steelburned my hands as I woundto the bottom.I opened my eyes. I was lyingin the street. Water and bloodwashed the cobbles, the skyrained ash. A pair of shoeslay beside me, in themtwo blistered feet.I saw the weave in the fabricof a girl's good coat,the wilted nosegay pinned to her collar.Not flowers, what I breathed then,awake among the dead.
Mary Fell grew up in Worcester, Massachusetts. She now lives in Indiana and teaches writing and literature at Indiana University-East. She can be reached at mfell@iue.edu.
