Flames And Rubble

“Oh but darling, there’s nothing left.
Our world went up in flames
and left nothing behind.”

Oh but darling, the silence was deafening. I was sitting there, watching our world go up in flames and there was nothing I could do but watch. It snuck up, like a slow-burning ember that suddenly caught, leaving everything engulfed in a pyre. There was no time to react. No scent of smoke to warn us. One second all was fine, and the next, everything was burning to the ground. And the silence, there was no roaring. No popping or crackling. It was utter silence. That was the scariest part.

And then, all that remained was rubble.

© Sarah Doughty

This was what it was like when the memories of my forgotten traumatic past came back to me. At first it was just a few thoughts, a few flashes of still-frame images I didn’t want to see. I thought I was going crazy. But those images turned into galleries. Then silent motion. First, only a few seconds. Then longer scenes. It wasn’t until later that the sound began. When I heard everything in crisp surround sound. My world shattered and burned to the ground because of me. Because of what happened. And we’ve been left sifting through the rubble ever since.

In my upcoming poetry book, Universal Echoes,
I delve into the four basic elements —
Earth, Fire, Water, & Air — and the Spirit,
which connects them all together.

Fire is associated with destruction —
more specifically, the necessary force
that allows or “activates” new life to begin.
One example is the asteroid
that brought about the extinction of dinosaurs,
paving the way for humanity to begin.
The Destructing (the section on fire),
focuses on life-altering events.