Incendiary 
by Vernon Scannell
   
That one small boy with a face like pallid cheese 
 
And burnt-out little eyes could make a blaze 
As brazen, fierce and huge, as red and gold 
And zany yellow as the one that spoiled 
Three thousand guineas' worth of property 
And crops at Godwin's Farm on Saturday 
Is frightening---as fact and metaphor: 
An ordinary match intended for 
The lighting of a pipe or kitchen fire 
Misused may set a whole menagerie 
Of flame-fanged tigers roaring hungrily. 
And frightening, too, that one small boy should set 
The sky on fire and choke the stars to heat 
Such skinny limbs and such a little heart 
Which would have been content with one warm kiss 
 
Had there been anyone to offer this.