Fire at the Car Dealership Yesterday

i.
The building caught on fire
something about it started on the roof and
thank goodness
everyone got out safely
though it was a new-car showroom
for crying out loud
so they just walked out the door
no drama or jumping out of windows
(do I sound disappointed? I don’t mean to)
but anyway
behind its condensation-covered plate glass windows.
the place is a wreck

ii.
Light fixtures dangle over water-logged sales desks
Sales banners droop but they are game and still trying
shouting out
Great Financing! All Credit Options Available!
and
Drive Out of Here and Live Your Dream!
their voices hoarse and soot-damaged.
The cars on the floor
stand in their positions
unsure what to do next.

iii.
I bet those factory-perfect
expensive up-to-the-minute models
because they always put the nicest ones
inside the building, don’t they
for customers to look at and sit in and
talk themselves into that something just a little
nicer
Really, it’s not much more a month, hardly
noticed
if you take it paycheck by paycheck
but I bet those upscale cars
never thought they’d be burnt-out wrecks
like the one sitting in the parking lot
of the abandoned factory
not too far down the road

iv.
Sure, there were casualties
in the fire
a few dreams busted like the glass in the windows
of what was until yesterday
upscale and thought itself impervious
to misfortune of such an ordinary kind.

1/3/18