Why did you welcome it into the house?

Numb in the coffers

of discounted bulbs, it seemed so harmless—

Blind as a doorknob, intimating green.

But coddled indoors,

it pillared overnight, and pursued the sun,

fattening its five uneven sacks of flame.

It knew our natures,

and had come to ready its own kingdom.

In the midst of our domestic exhibit,

all the souvenirs

of ceramic, brass, dyed glass, and silver plate

that you positioned for a sensuous curve or gleam

become amateurs:

the foolish gestures of the game of home.

As for your fine timbers, your careful décor—

At any moment all may break with pleasure.