Fire Poems

Could Have
BY Wislawa Szymborska
 
It could have happened.
It had to happen.
It happened earlier. Later.
Nearer. Farther off.
It happened, but not to you.
You were saved because you were the first.
You were saved because you were the last.
Alone. With others.
On the right. The left.
Because it was raining. Because of the shade.
Because the day was sunny.

You were in luck -- there was a forest.
You were in luck -- there were no trees.
You were in luck -- a rake, a hook, a beam, a brake,
A jamb, a turn, a quarter-inch, an instant . . .

So you're here? Still dizzy from
another dodge, close shave, reprieve?
One hole in the net and you slipped through?
I couldn't be more shocked or
speechless.
Listen,
how your heart pounds inside me. 


California Poem
BY JOHNNY CASH
1966
There’s trouble on the mountain
And the valley’s full of smoke
There’s crying on the mountain
And again the same heart broke.
 
The lights are on past midnite
The curtains closed all day
There’s trouble on the mountain
The valley people say.