Firestorm

Wake up to the alarum of a phone.

My home, my city's burning down. 

A city built with hedonistic bones 

Never worries about ghost towns. 

But tonight God decided to restart 

And threw matches into dry shrubs. 

The neighborhood eerily fell apart  

As fire ravaged country clubs. 

Surprisingly egalitarian, 

The rich and the poor fled for life. 

New converts, new humanitarians,

Shed their belongings and their strife.  

We survived and slipped into our old ways.

Let it burn again!  Rid us of malaise.

Modified sonnet.  Firestorm '03, '07, ...