Steve Halle
Obedients
At Our Lady of the Angels Catholic Elementary, Chicago,
a fire claimed the lives of 92 school children and three nuns
on December 1, 1958. Firemen found 24 children at their
desks in one room, their school books open before them.
—Newspaper Clippings, www.olafire.com
Did Sister smell extinguished candle
smoke? Did she hear a censer clang
off pitch like a broken bell,
a dove beat wings against the window?
Sister’s hand recoiled when she touched
the brass doorknob. She fell to her knees.
Was the intense heat redeeming,
or was Lucifer breathing light through the window?
Kneeling in agony, she stared at the ceiling,
smoothed her ornate habit and wiped
beads from her forehead. She calmly
delivered orders: The children
obeyed, even as their lungs choked
on hellish smoke. Sister whispered
while flames devoured the wooden door.
Deep in prayer, she did not look at the children
who put their heads down on clasped
hands, closed their eyes, and burned.
