after this fire has burned everything to the ground
i wonder who will stand among the ashes
and tell us,
“we did all we could.
this is a [damn] shame.”
if we wake up from this nightmare–
(because remember
some of us will not be waking up
and for some of us
it was your choices
that will bury us)
–i wonder who will look back and say,
“we got through this
together.”
we could point fingers
many already have;Â
we could say, “it’s your fault, their fault, his fault”
but let us not forget
our world was already crumbling before it was set aflame
the fire was beyond anyone’s control
(things would have crumbled regardless,
but it’s true–
there is a difference between crumbling
and being razed to the ground)
and while we were all burning
let us not forget
that some were warming their hands by the fire;
and some, the even more detestable few,
they lined their wallets with our cries for help.
(at a time when there was not enough to go around;
isn’t it just human nature
that the wealthy few
continued to walk over our hollowed spines
to enter the mansions housing their riches?)
after this fire has burned everything there is to burn
i wonder if i will just be ash
blown away on the wind
or if i will become the fire
that lives to consume everything in rage
to feed the emptiness scraped out of me
by every loss
by every struggle
by every injustice
by every time i was told
in no uncertain terms
that something
someone
everything
was more important
than how deeply the burning had set in my flesh
(”don’t you know?
you’re one of the lucky ones.
at least you have a job,
and besides?
didn’t youÂ
sign up for this?”)
when this fire has burned everything away
will i feel clean, instead?
left behind by all those around me with too much self-respect
to let the fire conquer them–
will it re-teach my soul the lightness that was stolen?
after this fire
will everything just go back to being exactly the same?
(just one slight breeze from breaking)
after this fire
who will be next in line
to tell me i’m unimportant,
disposable,
and
oh-
so-
flammable?
