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The Firehouse's Candles
Last night (from 11 pm to 2 am) I tended the candles in front of my local fire station. They lost 12 out of 30 "brothers." A bunch of fire fighters, widows and wives were returning from dinner and drinks. I was warmed by the community feeling among them and their big-hearted teasing of each other.
joking how the shrine candles
are a fire hazard
the fireman's widow |
A rain had snuffed out most of the candles, so I dumped out the water, lit what I could, and discarded the many, many spent candles. As I was thanking one of the fire fighters, he was thanking me. He said how unbelievable it was: Not just the Towers, but who could have predicted the outpouring of response from the community. I believe he said, "Who could have seen all this?" and he pointed to the mass of candles, flowers, hand-sewn hearts, notes and flags heaped against the station door, as well as to the other people who stopped by to chat, or donate money, or leave behind a tin of homemade cookies. He said he could feel "it" not just from the community here, in Brooklyn, but from the whole country. And then he gestured far out toward the west.
autumn night
remembrance candles
illuminate the firehouse |
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archive links (2001-2003)
I:1 | I:2 | memorial | II:1 | contributor index | john crook award 2002 results
relaunch links (2010- )
home | about haijinx | III:1 (2010) | IV:1 (2011)
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Originally Published: 2001-2003
Revised Archive: April 2011
Copyright © 2001-2011 Mark Brooks (haijinx). All rights reserved.
The copyrights of individual poems, articles, translations, and images belong to their individual authors. The editors do not necessarily endorse the opinions of authors, nor do they assume responsibility for factual errors, infringements of copyrights, or omissions in acknowledgements.
Comments or Questions? info-at-haijinx-dot-org
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