Kairosclerosis ✔ [poetry]

alacrity

22

ALACRITY

⸻

outside the leaves are catching fire.

the wild dry grass crackles and wilts

like dying candle wicks,

the barks melt and crumble into ash,

turning the forest into a burning cage,

—raging, raging,

as flocks of birds flee heavenward,

and deers and foxes scramble away in abandonment.

the flame flairs like a phoenix taking flights,

leaping and dancing into the sky

where the white clouds hanging above soon are tarred

black and grey.

the air smells like caramel and gasoline,

sweet and bitter,

thick and harsh.

it punctuates our lungs,

poisons our blood;

smothers our brain, blinds our eyes.

yet, we stand, still and tall,

a brilliant smile on our face

watching the proof of nature's patience and persistence

collapsing upon itself by our hands,

reduces to nothing by our feet.