the Great Chicago Fire of 1871,
the Great Boston Fire of 1872,
and the Great San Francisco Fire of 1906
crowds the chemical space
of My Great-Grandma’s Kitchen Fire of 1977.
Flames climbed her walls
like rats
before red teeth gnawed into her skin.
Shall we call this fire great
or a lesser label
that only collapsed one life?
When I clench my eyes shut
into a temporary death, I see
the ghosts of urban fires
extinguish my kin’s
grease-ignited inferno.