The Attempt

late coming home
playing baseball
till nearly dark

house front door wide open
a hot August night

house lights all on
shiny-new green car
Friday-night-regular
in the driveway

in the kitchen
my sister is sobbing
I go toward the sound

fire and smoke
in the kitchen sink
I rush and douse the flames

money is on fire,
a wad of twenty-dollar bills
smell is odd
like burnt paint

a door slams
the green car roars
guest man is going

my sister still sobs
on the basement threshold
cellar light is on and then

I see it

the noose

made from an extension cord
that connects the steam iron
to the kitchen wall socket

black long thick
with a special plug-in

it hangs high
hooked to a back step
over the cellar floor

a big jump