Fire & Fury

Some of us are old enough
to remember the drill.

Tonight, force-fed Breaking News,
we heed fifth-grade warnings,

revert to panicked children,
jump out of our chairs,

race around the room, desperate
for desks to use for cover.

Our aging hearts thump terror
under our tucked knees, heads.

We whisper prayers to a God
we left in high school,

as we flash back
to films of annihilation

our teachers showed us—
scenes of fire and fury

unleashed when science
loses, and reckless men

push the red button,
as they go mad with power.

by Anne McCrady

News Links (find out more):  Reuters, CNN, Al Jazeera, NPR

Audio Link (hear Anne read the poem): SoundCloud