The Man

The firefighter lurched out of the building carrying a boy So limp, pale, eyes shut Black soot covered their faces Smoke billowed from the windows behind Hard to see through the throngs of rubberneckers The top three floors of the tenement were ablaze The man mentally patted himself on the back Piteous cries arose over the commotion Some would die for certain Loss of life collateral damage Water from the pumpers too little too late One less eyesore in his city Time to set another fire And clean up the garbage But I have too much to declare