The Hogarth Experiment Part 1 Poem by David Harris

The year was 1942 and the war in Europe
raged on relentlessly.
Each day men were killed
in battlefields far away.
In a sleepy little hamlet
tucked deep in the Wye Valley,
in a converted shed behind his home
Professor Robert Hogarth worked
in his makeshift laboratory.
His hope was to develop a stimulant
to make plants grow larger and quicker,
thus helping with the food shortage.

Outside the storm clouds gathered
extinguishing the light of the sun.
In the distance, there were rumbles
as the thunder began to roar.
Hogarth worked feverishly
on his latest experiment
as it was almost done.
A pain shot through him,
he gasped and gave out a short cry.
As he fell, he knocked his experiment
across the wooden floor.
The container holding his latest experiment
shattered and its contents leaked
through the floor spilling over everything beneath.
The flame from his Bunsen burner
began a fire that raced out of control.
Flames licked around the building
charring everything in sight.

To be continued…