Sparks flew like the Fourth of July
But we’re Canadian
It wasn’t a celebration
But an explosion
Completely decimating three floors
Of a building with nefarious practices
People either knew exactly what it was
Or had passed by a million times
They couldn’t tell you if it was a
Restaurant, nightclub, store, cultural center
All of the above.

In a minute of fire and fury
It was gone
Three floors
Almost as if they never existed
Three floors, three places, three lifetimes
Leaving the adjacent buildings
Unharmed
Miraculously or intentionally
Bystanders say it was surreal
Lights and glass spraying into the air
Just past midnight when usually
People would have been inside
Eating, smoking, drinking
Luckily
It was closed for renovations
Or they had their liquor license revoked
Or someone had died back home
The stories were always poorly translated.

Not much was left in the rubble
What was left defied all odds
Even in the end
The mystery remained
An old Amr Diab cassette tape
A scrap of paper written in Turkish
An Ethiopian and Eritrean flag that had fused together
A woman’s wig
An entire branch of what looked like a heavily decorated Christmas tree.

The bystanders couldn’t give details
There never were reliable witnesses at this location
The police could tell you that for free
The stories of that night became as notorious as the location
Some say they could smell spices
Some say they could hear music playing
Some say they saw puffs of brightly colored smoke
Heading into the frozen night sky
Most wondered how exactly it happened
How three floors can disappear
How something could become nothing
In the blink of an eye.

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Amy N. Pugsley is an Assyrian-Canadian writer, poet, and educator currently based in Yangon, Myanmar. Her published works include contributions to various magazines such as International School Parent, Boom Saloon, Rigorous, Cheat River Review, io Literary Journal, Genre Urban Arts, Cairo West, and Flair. Amy’s freelance career has afforded her the opportunity to interview remarkable people, including Christine Quinn, Heather Rae El Moussa, Aisha Baker, Mana Besharati, Angie Marei, and Shiva Safai. Additionally, she has traveled extensively, writing food and hotel reviews in Europe, Asia, and Africa. With a Bachelor of Arts in International Development (2006), a Bachelor of Education (2014), and a recently completed Master’s in Educational Leadership (2023) from the American University in Cairo, Amy has a strong academic background to support her passion for writing and education.