AMERICA HAS ALWAYS SMELLED LIKE SMOKE.

                  after Abel Meeropol

Will the flesh too burn black after
the skin has been removed?
Will plasma curdle and teeth flake
and lungs bubble and cells burst?
Everything has been baptized by inferno
yet the trees do not die
and their produce does not expire;
it's as if they've been planted
by streams of ichor. 
Their gardeners refuse to 
labor in vain. 

How is it that even after
the fruit has been plucked
(or knee revoved
or gun reholstered
or fists loosened)
that there are still those who
do not see the fire
despite all this
smoke?