Alice Notley > Quotes > Quote > Christine liked it

“A mother" "& child" "were both on fire, continuously"
"The fire" "was contained in them" "sealed them off
from others" "But you could see the flame" "halo
of short flame all about the" "conjoined bodies, who
sat" "they sat apart" "on a seat for two" "at end of car" "The ghost" "of the father" "sat in flames" "beside them" "paler flames" "sat straight ahead" "looking straight ahead, not" "moving." "A woman"
"another woman" "in a uniform" "from above the ground" "entered" "the train" "She was fireproof" "She was gloves, & she" "took" "the baby" "took the baby" "away from the"" "mother" "Extracted" "the burning baby" "from the fire" "they made together" "But the baby" "still burned" ("But not yours" "It didn't happen" "to you")
"'We don't know yet" "if it will" "stop burning,'" "said the uniformed" "woman" "The burning woman" "was crying" "she made a form" "in her mind" "an imaginary" "form" "to settle" "in her arms where" "the baby" "had been" "We saw her fiery arms" "cradle air" "She cradled air" ("They take your
children" "away" "if you're on fire")
"In the air that" "she cradled" "it seemed to us there" "floated" "a flower-like" "a red flower" "its petals" "curling flames"
"She cradled" "seemed to cradle" "the burning flower of" "herself gone" "her life" ("She saw" "whatever she saw, but what we saw" "was that flower")”
― Alice Notley, The Descent of Alette