Incident (Trethewey Poem) Summary

The poem begins with an acknowledgment of its narrative frame: the speaker says that they tell this story every year. They recount that once they peered out the window, with the shades drawn, at men gathered around a lifted cross. They describe how they turn out their regular lights and lit lanterns. The men eventually leave, and it is implied that their flaming cross eventually stops burning. The speaker dismisses the events as nothing, but also repeats that they tell this story every year.