Thread: Books are Burning

“And you know when they burn books/People are next.” – XTC


Words lick into ash
curl up concisely,
like they were written for this moment,
and every time before it,
reading always leads to this:
a final fiery kiss.

Torch in the sky
lighting up fragile minds,
in a time when we should just
come together.
Be together.
Ride out this bad weather
and poor form we’ve been feeling...
Why burn books
just to get warm?

Don’t buy that explanation
your whitewash won’t stick here
Even if I'm sanded down first.
For once
your words won’t do the work.
Cannot excuse the worst eleven years
of incompetence
as governance.


If you wield your power
in burning your own words,
You’ll be shoveling hot ash
To choke on.

I refuse to stoke the flames
of a dead ember Prime Minister,
whose sinister intent begins with books;

and certainly ends
with men.