Combustion

Twenty-one Muslim boys and girls burned to death by raging Hindu mobs and unclaimed in city mortuary -- perhaps because all relatives died also -- are buried in Ahmedabad in Gujarat state...

-- The New York Times, March 7, 2002

Can you see the pin-drop of silence?
Silent fires, rushing, raging
encircling
in the sacrificial middle
hands upraised
as if pointing to a speck on the moon
the crowd, surrounding, looks up too
there is no moon
just black smoke, curling
they look down, then throw in more fuel
children were not dying easily
they kept pointing.
One man said
'Listen, say this
"Jai Shri Ram"' to the children.
Paper burns at Fahrenheit 451
Cotton burns at Fahrenheit 752
Skin and hair burn higher
they protect
the soul that does not burn.
'Jai Shri Ram' said the mob
stepping back.
The fire closed in.
They say that Douglas-Firs
survive forest fires
the old-growth trees are so tall
they seem
to be touching the moon.
In Ahmedabad, next time,
see if you can spot
some tall trees.