A Fire-Truck Poem by Richard Wilbur

A Fire-Truck

Rating: 3.1


Right down the shocked street with a
siren-blast
That sends all else skittering to the
curb,
Redness, brass, ladders and hats hurl
past,
Blurring to sheer verb,

Shift at the corner into uproarious gear
And make it around the turn in a squall
of traction,
The headlong bell maintaining sure and
clear,
Thought is degraded action!

Beautiful, heavy, unweary, loud,
obvious thing!
I stand here purged of nuance, my
mind a blank.
All I was brooding upon has taken
wing,
And I have you to thank.

As you howl beyond hearing I carry you
into my mind,
Ladders and brass and all, there to
admire
Your phoenix-red simplicity, enshrined
In that not extinguished fire.



Submitted by Robert Fish

COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Lorraine Wilske 24 March 2005

This is a good poem, I like it a lot.

7 9 Reply
Edward Kofi Louis 25 November 2017

Degraded action! ! Thanks for sharing.

1 0 Reply
Kumarmani Mahakul 25 November 2017

Haunting expression. Beautiful poem by Richard Wilbur. Thanks to Robert Fish for submission.

1 0 Reply
like you would care 26 October 2020

This poam is CRINGE, not gonna lie its very much cringe im useing this much space that way I fill the character limit

0 0 Reply
response 02 May 2022

Why is it cringe? Do you even understand the meaning? By your spelling I can tell you're probably 7 years old, so your opinion means nothing

1 0
Bernard F. Asuncion 25 November 2017

Such a fine poem by Richard Wilbur.....

2 2 Reply
Subhas Chandra Chakra 25 November 2017

Beautiful poem shared. Nicely written.

2 1 Reply
Glen Kappy 25 November 2017

Thank you, Robert, for introducing me to this great poem! Vivid and fresh description. No question what he’s writing about. And notice, poets, how the rhyme fits in so logically and easily; I missed it at first. Cool! -GK

3 1 Reply
Deepak Kumar Pattanayak 25 November 2017

It will be a poor fun having a fire device, and no chance to show its mettle..........very well crafted to mean a lot......... thanks for sharing

1 0 Reply
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