After the Fire – A Poem by Mark Tulin

After the Fire was first published in the now defunct Vita Brevis. Featured image by Mark Tulin.

After the Fire by Mark Tulin

After the fire,
we could still taste
the metallic smoke
on our parched lips.

A smell of charred
homes and trees
still linger under our noses.

Our eyes still burn
with tears of loss and fear.
Will it happen again, we wonder.

After the fire,
there is a snowy dust
that covers our cars and walkways.
The sky glows a burnt orange
from our back window.

There is the mask
that covers our faces.
Like a dazed phantom,
we lurk behind closed doors
in dark, secret spaces.

In our worried minds,
we still see the flames
on the distant hillside.
We have nightmares
of being trapped and left behind.