Coal Seam Fire

The kobolds in the coal
slumber with livid blood
because we long forgot

to sacrifice our offspring.
Cut veins awaken them
after we mine the ores

hoarded for centuries.
Sunlight plus oxygen
makes nitroglycerin —

we flick lit cigarettes
on dynamite, then act
surprised. Eyepits ignited,

the goblins underground
metastasize the masses
out of their sleeper cells

deeper beneath stone skin
than we can probe with pokers.
These elementals haunt us

with a coal heart that smolders
until we let them smother
our children in their beds.

Copyright © 2008 Steven D. Schroeder All rights reserved
from The Bitter Oleander
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission