Last autumn
Over the dinner table
Memories remain;
A house once gracing the land with laughter and life,
Now in ashes.
Do you remember how safe the walls kept our home?
How when you inhaled freshly-cooked carrots your soul danced in the kitchen?
Do you remember the hot shower, chocolate wafers,
Sunset fire-place family sittings, heads bent over books?

The tale of a burning house, a memory
Psshhh! Fire hose and buckets!
Water cooling bonfire flames while we stood
Gasping, falling, gasping for air

Smoke fills the atmosphere
Teardrops fall
Fire slowly dies down
Mother, father, daughter – kneeling down
Wailing in despair
Fire has gone with the house.
Fire never used to cause such fright
Never used to be something so cold, so ferocious.

They now hide flames on their heads with coverings
The well has dried up
Where will they find solace?