one wants to prepare with the storm coming

When the house burns:

do you get the dog out? or did you say documents?

So much worth saving—stop, drop, roll—

will you remember? is there a plan?

Nothing's on fire, nothing's on fire, not yet.

But one wants to prepare with the storm coming

or the pyromaniac niece, the possible

electrical malfunction. Admit it, we dream

of time in layers, each with its own catastrophe,

just as we wait for the future to open

its doors on the brightest prize, backlit

by the beautiful blaze. Grab the dog,

grab the deed, the house is on fire.

[Cullen Bailey Burns - 'Combustion', from Slip]