The Fire

match
spark
in the dark
he stands
to get the world aroused
his hair and clothing doused
in BPs fluid currency
smoke-scented singes
covering his body
the sweet stench of burnt flesh
rises through dissipation
and travels over a sea
of blind eyes and deaf ears
now can they hear?
his cries of desperation
it took a fire to burn
for him to earn a closer listen

red
the fire has bled over
to the streets of Tiananmen square
the sinister affair
black powder
the ballistics
he lied about the statistics
about how many felt the fire
but no one can touch the liar
cause he is the one who controls
the stories in the books of histories
so young men and young women's pleas
are only heard if the fire
burned bright enough
to disintegrate the pages
shame how they had to burn
for them to earn a closer listen

crackle
the flames crawl closer west
the first one passed the test
and now the fire blazes
hotter than the sun
on their desert sands
the ash and the soot
still covering joined hands
the hearts and minds
melted to a
changed state of matter
their fire climbs a ladder
to the skies where there are no-flys
we see the heat rise
and spread across an ocean
of eyes and ears
that have no choice
as they watch four countries burned
it seems that they have earned
a closer listen

sometimes you have to set yourself on fire
to make yourself heard
'cause sometimes the word
is not incendiary enough to
ignite
the light
and build the steady burn
it takes for you to earn
a closer listen