five sections from Explosion Rocks Springfield

 



**The Friday evening gas explosion in Springfield leveled a strip club next to a day care.**



I remember the breeze right before…



Burs of—was it willow—slant-falling.



The gray sidewalk, schist granules, scattering.



A brown dumpster lid smushing its green plastic, sandwich meat.



A rat made its debut, but for a moment.



 



I remember an awning string’s knotted tip soft-thudding a windowpane



—tympani’s uneven beat.



The rustle of stray trash—bass strings, almost rising



—but never.



And the chopper, the chopper—spittletatootling, spittletatootling—



A proud boot landing on obedient asphalt.



The stern, uncrying chrome.



The flighty flames decorative gas tank.



 



I can’t forget the beryllium blue sunshades



—orange hued at a glance.



And the stars and bars, starched, pressed, bandana.



Nation Idol Gorge



But for a moment



Then



Boom.



 



 



**The Friday evening gas explosion in Springfield leveled a strip club next to a day care.**



Spartacus sprinklers (top rail)



Serial no. 21809A



Inspector 480F



Jiangxi Quality Products



Night Hawk Importers, San Bruno, CA



Roman Roads Distributors, Phoenix, AZ



Port of entry, Tacoma, WA



Tankard 10179.03



Inspector 4201



ILO quarterly report:



Case study 1142



Tingting Liu, 23, female



I.D. 41732



Platform 12, line 8, station 4



Muscular skeletal paralysis



3rd metatarsal taped to 2nd   phalangeal



4th proximal splinted to 5th distal



OSHA Region 1 final report:



Incident 2267, explosion (gas)



Inspector 505F



Sprinklers inoperable



Logic Tree branch 20



System of Safety failure



Mitigation device



16 drill holes stoppered



Weld burs not filed



Citation: 29CFR.1910.159(c)(12)



Notes: inspector 505F on leave



DOL budget sequestered



PUB.L. 112-25



District 2, 112th Congress



United States of America



 







**The Friday evening gas explosion in Springfield leveled a strip club next to a day care.**



I remember the plume right after…



Orbs of—was it cinnamon—black-rising.



Vapor gray whitening shingle powder rain.



A dumpster lid sheered off a gravestone’s angel face.



A hawk’s claws claimed the stump.



 



I remember two spouts of thin flame, blue, making an X



—mind’s waking dream.



The hissing of gurgling plastic, supplicant—sick



—stomach’s inner eyeball.



And the bathtub, the bathtub—sittin’ pretty—sittin’ pretty—



The hysteric roof flopping on an unfazed floor.



The wise, ever-wakeful steel beams.



The cheery glass—beaming—everywhere.



 



I can’t forget that purple doorknob



—horny at a glance.



And the plump couch stuffing foam, blazing, angry.



City’s Final Chorus



But for a moment



Then



Shsh.



 







**The Friday evening gas explosion in Springfield leveled a strip club next to a day care.**



Spartacus Sprinklers (top rail)



Serial no. 21809A



Scrap metal yard F-2



Stripped steel tankard 28



Sampson Recyclers Ltd., Pittsfield, MA



Steelworkers local 4-12026



Smelting furnace 48



Slab beam rollout batch 81.2014



Semper Fortis Steel Precision Corp, Brooklyn, NY



Steelworkers local 4-200



Section cutting station no. 12



Steel cylinder hollow type 2b



Store & send department 4



Spirit of 76 Commercial Furnishing Corp, Slidell, LA



Steelworkers local 3-275



Sargon Sprinklers (bottom rail)



Serial no. 321911B



Sink coating station 12



Sanding unit 25



Seal testing station no. 7



Sprinklers standard specification 29CFR1910.159(b)



Station inspector 13



Sales packaging room H



Sort and storage garage 4



Second incidence of forklift crushing worker’s toes



Spirit of 76 Personnel Motivation Free Cupcake Fridays director, Chet Baker



Steelworkers local 3-275 chief steward, Marynella Fernandez



Section 5, clause 2 “Management shall comply with all state and federal standards”



Safety committee grievance no. 78: unannounced station rotations / inadequate training



Staff training regulation arbitration hearing 501.P.36



Sargon Sprinklers 1st annual wet t-shirt contest



Super Sonic Dance Club, 3rd Floor, Picayune, MS



 



 



**The Friday evening gas explosion in Springfield leveled a strip club next to a day care.**



I don’t remember the very moment…



Flashes of—was I daydreaming—Biloxi Bound.



The termite swarm at dusk, balling up, sprinkling.  



A skeeter swirling in its hotel pool—for the first time.  



A no-see-um bug popped out from nowhere—but for a moment—to romp.  



 



I can’t say I recall Cleopatra’s hairpiece flying off in a speeding four-cylinder vehicle



—Empire of the Great Somewhere, but never.  



And the flying fish, the flying fish—hither-flopping, hither-flopping—



The carefree palms, twerking, injured.  



The bald, unyielding sun, giddy.  



Tentative feet in knee high water, gripping.



 



Have I forgotten the name of that triple IPA—something like



—Rondez The Moon à la Batshit.



And the ample sized black pockadots—in my eyes, twerking, carefully.



Empire of the Great Somewhere



But for a moment



Then



Then



 



 



Explosion Rocks Springfield* is Rodrigo Toscano's new book. It is even wilder and weirder than these*



* sections suggest, and you can pick up your copy **from [Amazon](http://www.amazon.com/Explosion-Rocks-Springfield-Rodrigo-Toscano/dp/0986437344), [Powell's](http://www.powells.com/book/explosion-rocks-springfield-9780986437342), or your local poetry shop. *



*Only the first four of these sections appeared in the magazine. *



* *