Fleeting Lives

I stood on the corner, a witness to flames,

that flickered and crackled, consuming the names.

From windows like eyes, orange tongues licked,

as memories crumbled, hearts turned to brick.

The smoke coiled high, a serpent of gray,

everything vanishing, fading away.

In the silence, I watched as the structure gave in,

a canvas of loss where new lives begin.

What was once whole now scattered in ash,

my own fragile hopes tangled in the flash.

Tomorrow holds nothing but shadows of light,

reminders that warmth can just as well bite.