Pre-dawn
dark, silence.
Nothing
to still my clawing
Thoughts
in this empty
House.
Cold
stones echo
As
I descend the winding
Staircase.
My
dog, asleep on her chair
Hears
me through her dreams,
Wags
her tail,
Knows
me.
Knows
me.
She
stretches, comes to put
Her
damp nose against
My
hand.
Unshed,
tears press behind my eyes.
My
throat aches.
I
hear my heart
Thud.
A
burned and blackened child
Floats
through my mind.
I
am afraid to look at it.
It
struggles for breth.
Black
smoke fills the sky,
The
fire burning all
That
I love.
February
1996