IN THE DARK

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