"The Flame Deluge" is actually about bombs and nuclear energy. Nuclear energy is "meant for something more" in that it can power infrastructure and is the subject of continuing research. Guernica and Dresden are sites of historical bombing attacks, with a great number of civilian deaths. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_Guernica https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_Dresden_in_World_War_II "The flame deluge is waiting in the wings The smallest thread holds back the second flood" This refers to the persistent possibility of the use of nuclear weaponry. "And who will stand to greet the blinding light" Nuclear bombs have detonations bright enough to blind anyone who sees it based on their proximity to the detonation. "It's lonely when there's no one left to fight" The layman's observation, in which nuclear war is actually imminent, suggests that humans would wipe each other out with nukes.