Inside the hellfire

homes were transformed

into piles of rubble

memories were transformed

into piles of ash

people and beloved pets

were senselessly incinerated

in the eternal struggle

between man and nature

but also

between man and his fellow man.

The scumbag looters

driving fake firetrucks

and wearing fake uniforms

and showing fake ID’s

swoop into the neighborhoods

to try and steal anything left

that may be of value

once again proving

unfortunately

that this city

the City of Angels

also has devils

that are amongst us

who must be eradicated

like cockroaches.

The insurance company executives

wringing their bloated ever greedy hands

will send out droves of adjusters

who will put policy holders

through the grinder

when they file a claim

and they will drag their feet

and they will roll out miles of red tape

and they will indefinitely stonewall you

and make you fill out reams of

unnecessary paperwork

and asking you for documents and receipts

that they already know

were lost in the fire

all the while hoping and praying

and plotting and hedging

scheming, actually

that the event will be considered

a federal emergency

getting them off the hook

from paying all of the damages

and allowing them to keep their fat salaries

and drive their flashy cars

and send their children to ivy league schools

and continue to screw the policy holders

with lowball estimates

and higher premiums

as they slither their way back to headquarters.

Whether it was arson

or infrastructure

fingers will point

to lay blame

of the source of ignition

on an individual for an act of violence

which they will vehemently deny

or on a power company for an arcing wire

due to an aging infrastructure

that was not properly maintained

which they will vehemently deny

or on a politician for defective policies

that exacerbated the problem

which he will vehemently deny

or all of the above

in a concerted effort to appear

to identify who should pay

for the massive damage

and the lives lost

but in the end, everyone will pay

after FEMA steps in

and makes the situation worse

with their ineptitude and indifference

while the EPA blocks people from

accessing their own properties

and the insurance company executives

gladhand the feds

for making their day.

Ten or twenty or thirty years from now

when what had happened before

had already been forgotten

it will happen again

the perfect storm

of atmospheric conditions

and the burning

and the destruction

and the loss of life

and the fear

and the heartbreak

and the dry reservoirs

and the dry fire hydrants

and the missing city leadership

and the lies

and the deception

and the corruption

and the rezoning

and the litigation

and the new Urban Wildfire tax

and the higher utility bills

and the fraudulent contractors

that took the money and ran

will all be distant memories for everyone

except for the insurance companies

who never forget these things

because they know

history repeats itself

and they will increase your premiums

and their stock prices will rise

and their coffers will overflow

and their massive executive bonuses

will be distributed amongst themselves

and who know

the dog-eared

Catastrophic Event Playbook

all too well

especially the chapter

on how to make the government

make the taxpayers

pay for the damages themselves

as they callously

cancel your policy

and go play a round of golf

with the politicians.