And Back Again

So there was a fire.

And I follow the procedure to get help to put it out.

So she listened, and noted down some points,

 paused, and put down her pen.

She said let me hear first.

Then she didn’t write three quarters of what I said.

But she helpfully directed me,

Go to the office where they look.

They have a book where they write,

Walk straight, down the road, to that sign,

When you have the paper, come back.

So I go down the road,

And he said yes, this is the looking office,

But first I must hear,

So I told of the fire again,

And he said, well,

What you say may be true,

But I will not write it,

The repercussions are too heavy and this fire, could have been there,

before you noticed. It could be a natural fire,

and this paper you want me to write, could put blame on your neighbors,

Could sue companies, could frame the cook.

“Do you still want me to look?”

I asked, if he saw what I said, would he write in his book?

He said no.

I was shook.

So I tried to let it all go,

except the fire was  growing,

So I ran,

And was sent to another office,

Where I sat and began, to narrate a storyline,

Too ugly for movies and song hooks.

Given the option, the experience alone would have silenced

But I was pushed to speaking out by the threat of reoccurrence.

The firelighter, was coming.

So I begin again, and again I see, the pen land,

From hand to table, and my heart aches at the familiarity

Unfortunately, the narration was necessity.

And I will save you the trouble I went through,

by framing in  summary.

So Office four says, ok, that’s not our department,

what you need to do is go over there and go left

And Office five is short handed, and drowning in charity,

So they ask what I’m doing there, say I should have gone right.

And Office six, say’s hello, did you bring the karatis from office one and two,

Which I sadly reply, that the same were not issued,

So they send me to Office Seven and Eight for forms A and B,

Which if follow through dutifully.

When I go back, they tell me to wait.

They will call me…

I wait

And I wait,

And my waiting instructions are to sit on my hands

and not ‘play’ with my phone.

At that time, I really need to check my messages,

and I really need to get home.

When I try to mention these things,

 I am asked what I do for work, and what could be so urgent,

since I am not a  fire fighter or surgeon,

  and if I even wanted to be helped in the first place,

  or if I wouldn’t rather just leave them alone.

So I wait

And I wait

And I wait.

Meanwhile, the ever present threat that brought me is not over.

I beg to excuse myself, to the bathroom, to check my phone.

And low and behold. A friendly neighbor informs me that the firelighter is seen,

around my new home. Now, this is a new report,

and my office visits, inform me that this has to be reported at Office three.

So I rush to do the necessary,

Where I am asked, have you brought forms A, B and C?

Now, I didn’t know about C, A and B can be sourced by their system, thankfully,

But I am informed they can not help me without this new news Form C.

Now, this combination problem, can only be addressed at Office 4c.

Where, I am informed that I must go down the hall and left,

From where I’m told I should have gone right,

From where I’m told, I must visit Office Eight.

My friends, I am tired of these offices, but I’m also scared of the fire,

So I go, and I am told to wait.

When they are ready to see me, an angry lady scolds me.

“Now madam, the problem with you, is that you are going everywhere, everywhere.

This is highly irregular, you did not get the forms for the first fire, until much later.

You’ve made it your business to go right and left.

How do you expect us to help you if you don’t help yourself?

To make matters worse, you didn’t even bother to get your Form C filled and dated…”

She says so many things… Except the thing their cumulative actions

have sentenced.

Which is:

” Go back to your fire…

Go Burn.”