It was decided that the shed <br />- an eyesore - had to go, <br />so, after rolling out of bed <br />at 5, I'd start the show. <br /> <br />A careful fire now, to burn <br />the boards, dismantled, one by one. <br />I use the tractor - push and turn, <br />support beams fall - I'm having fun. <br /> <br />When suddenly my front wheels stick <br />deep in the ground, I try reverse. <br />I may, if this fails, have to dig, <br />so now I start to yell and curse. <br /> <br />The fire, fuelled by roof tar, <br />is getting closer by the minute! <br />I'm trying! - something is bizarre, <br />it's sticky mud and I am in it. <br /> <br />'So get the hose ', I yell out loud, <br />'and call the neighbour, hurry, kids! ' <br />there's just a trickle coming out, <br />it's getting hot, I lose my wits. <br /> <br />As Maurice comes with his John Deere <br />and chain and hooks and other gear, <br />the flames have reached the tractor tyre. <br />I pray that God would douse the fire. <br /> <br />Accelerate, now pull and yank <br />but nothing moves, it's getting hot. <br />My eyes are on the petrol tank, <br />I wonder 'will I now blow up? ' <br /> <br />At last the efforts are succeeding <br />and all the wheels are slowly turning. <br />With Maurice and his monster leading <br />it's high time 'cause my seat is burning! <br /> <br />And so we saved the day, yes Mister. <br />The damage was a half-burned tyre, <br />a charcoaled seat, a rear-end blister, <br />but we escaped - and WHAT a fire! <br /> <br />The fire engines screaming in, <br />with lights a-flashing, sirens, tooting, <br />they're knocking down the garbage bin, <br />the trucks look shiny, high fallutin'. <br /> <br />The chief is known to us - a local. <br />He asks what I will not forget, <br />presents himself, high-pitched and vocal: <br />'So, put it out? ' - I say 'You bet! '<br /><br />Herbert Nehrlich<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-tractor-fire/
