Another poem by Vernon Scannell, from A Sense of Danger, now out of print, which says much better than I can about child arsonists
Incendiary
That one small boy with a face like pallid cheese
And burnt-out eyes could make a blaze
As brazen, fierce & huge, as red & gold
And zany yellow as the one that spoiled
Three thousand guineas’ worth of property
And crops at Godwin’s farm on Saturday
Is frightening – as fact & metaphor:
An ordinary match intended for
The lighting of a pipe or kitchen fire
Misused may set a whole menagerie
Of flame-fanged tigers roaring hungrily.
And frightening, too, that one small boy should set
The sky on fire & choke the stars to heat
Such skinny limbs & such a little heart
Which would have been content with one warm kiss
Had there been anyone to offer this
Incendiary
That one small boy with a face like pallid cheese
And burnt-out eyes could make a blaze
As brazen, fierce & huge, as red & gold
And zany yellow as the one that spoiled
Three thousand guineas’ worth of property
And crops at Godwin’s farm on Saturday
Is frightening – as fact & metaphor:
An ordinary match intended for
The lighting of a pipe or kitchen fire
Misused may set a whole menagerie
Of flame-fanged tigers roaring hungrily.
And frightening, too, that one small boy should set
The sky on fire & choke the stars to heat
Such skinny limbs & such a little heart
Which would have been content with one warm kiss
Had there been anyone to offer this
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Burning desire
Burning desire
