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