The Nightly Horror

Emergency call - A reason to suspect attic
Flashing blue light - Sirens scream
The salamander coughs to life
We are marching out to burn
To burn the unlawful books

We arrive at an old house
An aged woman opens the door
Not trying to escape
Standing still

My colleagues rush past her
The mechanical hound in front
But the woman doesn't seem
To fear our procedure

I don't know what to do
Like a pillar of salt
Unable to move
For a few seconds

I follow the other firemen upstairs into the library
Entirely overwhelmed
By the attitude of the woman
And her powerful eloquence

She appears to see so much in these books
So much emotion
So many feelings
So many memories

A fountain of thrown books
Sloshes out of the door
And an open one falls into my hands
I read just a line, but it blazes in my mind

Meaningful gestures
Literary excerpts
Spoiler of our ritual
Bibliophile

Uninterested behavior
House into pyre
Show must go on
Dissemination of kerosene

Like controlled
By an invisible hand
I snatch some books
Put them under my garment

There's nobody holding me back
Something inside of me wants to know
More about these books
The emotions they hold

The procedure starts now
10, 9, 8, 7
The woman wants to stay
6
The counting stops

The woman shows a slender object
A kitchen match

We escape the inevitable
The stench surrounds her
The stench of burning thoughts