Conflagration Poem by Mary Champion

Broken glass, abandoned on a hillside
by some too careless rambler weeks ago,
focusses the sunlight without purpose,
kindling a flame amidst the bracken -
long shrivelled by relentless heat and drought.

With terrifying speed, the fire takes hold,
increasing unobserved until too late.
Control is now beyond the pow'r of Man,
as hungry flames search restlessly for fuel.

The smell of fear is stronger than the stench
of the choking smoke and burning timber
as animals and humans flee their homes.
When there is nothing left to feed the fire
it dies beside its nemesis - the sea.

Surveying that dear place, they once called home
they see only a blackened wilderness.
Here and there a metallic skeleton
bearing witness to a human presence
but priceless, precious artifacts they prized -
sad victims of the fire - are all consumed.