ASHES

And throughout that troubled night
Their salty tears fell
And doused the fires of destruction
That had ripped through them
Scorching their child souls
And colouring them each
A different shade of grey
And the toxic smoke swirled high and wide
From the embers of their broken home
And they breathed it in
And all were poisoned in different ways
By the fumes of sorrow
Still, they emerged survivors
Each carrying a bag of ashes
Of unequal weight
In place of their child hearts.
Marion Price
(2018)