Their daughters worked the “Viper Room”
until four a.m.
there’s only charred wreckage
on the spot where it stood,
the Fire Department logged the call
at four thirty-one a.m.
forensics revealed the fire
started much earlier;
seven bodies were found,
shocked the township
newspapers said,
sympathy and flowers
were slow in coming
grieving relatives left much unsaid;
the Priest read from Deuteronomy,
something about cutting down groves,
amongst those listening
some involuntarily wiped their hands,
in case the kerosene smell
lingered.
