Chicago - Barn Burner Poem by Ima Ryma

I, Louis Cohn, in this my Will,
Do hereby confess to the crime
Of causing my city great ill,
Destruction the worst of the time.
I was in the O'Leary barn,
Where I was not supposed to be,
Late at night. O'Leary came - darn!
So I took off in a hurry.
I knocked a lantern onto hay.
A fire started, and to my shame,
I did not stop and got away.
I heard that a cow got the blame.

I lived on as a silent liar,
Starting the Great Chicago Fire.