Evacuating

I said to the girl
who was wailing
oh my god should we
break the windows
in the same high
register as the
sirened trucks
that had not yet
arrived, her hand
on the red handle
that would puncture
the glass so she
could jump from
the second story,
I said in a calm
tone, like speaking
to a child
hiding from thunder
under a table, no,
we have
enough time
shouldering my
backpack, my
purse, gray smoke
and burning rubber,
we have
enough time
to get off the bus
we’re going to be
all right
and we walked
down the steep
and narrow
steps, away
from the fire that
was sustaining
itself,
as fires do.