Hiroshima and so

So stare at me as they talk of Hiroshima… 

So stare at me as they talk of suffragettes… 

So stare at me as they talk of the Big Bang… 

So stare at me as they talk of Pompeii and so — 

It’s a flimsy globe we spin on, lethargic carousel, 

When across the classroom at some insignificant point in history, 

Two blazing gazes lock — a raging fire is felt. 

A beating bomb of blood and flesh, I held in shaking hands. 

I was going to do a Shelley, store you in my desk, 

But some bell shrilled, and the spell was broken. 

I went and washed my hands.