Vernon Scannell

“IncendiaryThat one small boy with a face like pallid cheeseAnd burnt-out little eyes could make a blazeAs brazen, fierce and huge, as red and goldAnd zany yellow as the one that spoiledThree thousand guineas' worth of propertyAnd crops at Godwin's Farm on SaturdayIs frightening---as fact and metaphor:An ordinary match intended forThe lighting of a pipe or kitchen fireMisused may set a whole menagerieOf flame-fanged tigers roaring hungrily.And frightening, too, that one small boy should setThe sky on fire and choke the stars to heatSuch skinny limbs and such a little heartWhich would have been content with one warm kissHad there been anyone to offer this.”