Lost In Smoke
By: Wayne Brown
Wildfires are burning across the hot dry grounds
Popping, cracking, sizzling, a symphony of sounds
Raging out of control like some cruel evil joke
Burning all it touches; sending it up in smoke
Houses burned to foundations; all possessions lost
Keepsakes, souvenirs, fine things; valued beyond the cost
Lost to the leaping flames the hot, dry winds so stoke
Lost to all but our memory, lost in the smoke
Ashes and embers coat the ground where vegetation grew
The landscape so beautiful; it was the home we knew
Then like thieves robbing in the night for their stolen toke
The flames take the precious beauty; gone up in smoke
Winds blowing dry and wild urging this beast along
Howling in the tree tops as if the devil were in song
Bringing soot and ash to the grounds that we broke
Ripping it from our possession; lost in the smoke
Brave men and women fight from both ground and air
Breaking backs and risking lives all for a stranger’s fare
Yet the hot, dry wind is relentless in the flames that it stokes
Overwhelming human courage as it all goes up in smoke
Ol’ Mother Nature can be sure be a heartless one
Sending burning flames forth that seem to climb to the sun
Burning everything in the path of her broad, windy stroke
All the beautiful little animals and flowers; lost in the smoke
Mankind will not give up; the fires will finally be controlled
But nothing can bring back the things the cruel flames stole
The land is marked with the anger; the beauty has been broke
Our living world is soot and ashes; the rest is up in smoke
Time will heal the scars and bring beauty to cover the strife
Folks will slowly get back to normal and get on with this life
Damage will be erased ironically by Mother Nature’s stroke
But tears will long be shed for little things lost in the smoke
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