amongst the embers

another wave of fire grows higher
flames caress the treetops,
pushing towards an achingly blue sky.

firetrucks arrive, much too late.
burn suits protect their agile bodies
as firemen mill throughout the scene,
onlookers stand in shock as the beautiful
Victorian turns to an empty shell before their eyes

you can feel the added heat from the
fire as the sun burns your face
glad, you are, that this is not your home.

you don't think about what you don't want to know,
the young man amongst the embers.

if you were his parents you'd be wondering why your son hasn't come home yet,
never thinking that his gasoline doused body
was just now bones, laying amid the chaos of
a burning abandoned house three towns over.

you'd never guess that he couldn't bear to
tell you that he'd killed a man, and
couldn't tell you of an act of brutal
insincerity

it pushed him over the edge,
out the door with gasoline and matches

to a cardboard box return,
deepest sympathy and regrets.