PROJECT: EVERGREEN - The Destruction

What did you expect?

You wanted this to last -

to be the endless finality

amidst the smoke and fire.

You wanted forever,

but at what cost?

You expected the seeds to burst;

to find purchase in the scorched earth,

but that endless power that has seized you

is the antithesis to joy and renewal -

a blemish upon the greenery of your homeland;

sickness bathed in green light.

What was the price for your growth;

for your journey of self discovery and new beginnings?

What friends did you leave behind in that forest dark

where you wandered lost and alone in the shade of the pines

calling out for rescue when you knew what must be done

to save your self?

Child of fire,

let the embers of your soul rage -

an old forest is nothing but a graveyard

of memories choked in evergreen dreams

that would be better left to burn away.

_________________

Author's Note

I LOVE Poppy's work ( I really need to comment more ), and after reading her poem "Red" and realizing that it was a part of a prompt she had given to the community, I of course had to throw my hat in, but with a twist!

EVERGREEN is the title of my finished fantasy book draft, part of my long running project FATE OF FIRE. The title itself represents quite a few facets in the story beyond just its color or definition. So why not explore this color in poetic form through the lens of my novel?

This first foray into the prompt led me down the idea of how fire regenerates forests, and is particularly vital to life for evergreen forests. I used that imagery to convey one of the the main protagonist's journeys through the novel.

Which protagonist though, hmmm?

I'll probably do more EVERGREEN poems, as I got super inspired! If you want a fun prompt, I highly suggest checking out Poppy's post below!