The Last Flash
Awakening
One green dot burned neon, violently blinding at the edge of the world.
I am aghast for the sound of which escaped me.
I sought confirmation from another, betraying any false pretension I had grown from seeing to believe.
Not an endless beam (as I had conjured from lore in my head), no.
One green dot.
One constant life-fire changed entirely before giving to reflection in the slivered moon hung in the sky.
So smugly I had erred: analyzing sunsets to prove a bias. Hundreds of dots aligned neatly; a horizon of zero possibility.
Until there was one.
I was humbled.
Ravenous flame chewed your discarded flesh, picked its yellow teeth with your bones. I gave as many tears as I could, cried my very blood and marrow, but I could not douse the fires.
By and by there was nothing left to consume and so heat gave to cooling particles in ashen hues.
Grey dust settled in a hazy fog I too, grew meek as flame’s roaring ceased.
Laying in the dirt, not sure when I’d stopped standing, soil firmed under my shoulders, softened at my spine.
The dewy green grass breathed with me ever so briefly in gentle goodbye.
That was the evening I saw it, your green flash in the sky, I know it was you - you taught me to see without my eyes.
About the Creator
Jessica McGlaughlin
"The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing."
A piece of paper taped to a wall of an elementary school said this, it really resonated with me.
Keep reading
More stories from Jessica McGlaughlin and writers in Poets and other communities.
Growth. Honorable Mention in Roots and Branches Challenge.
Heavenly Father, Mother Earth, Undertaker (all the same), I am small. Single granule: “compact particle of substance.” Though neither uniform nor solid for I have given to emptied yet always full
By Jessica McGlaughlinabout a month ago in Poets
Standing While Falling
Quotation from Friedrich Nietzsche "He who wrestles long with monsters should beware lest he himself become a monster. And if you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you. Man is not destroyed by suffering, but by the meaning he makes of it."
By LUCCIAN LAYTH6 days ago in Critique
Comments (8)
Congratulations!🥳 A fascinating poem & take on the challenge.
Wooohooooo congratulations on your win! 🎉💖🎊🎉💖🎊
Is this for a challenge Nice.
The language is both cosmic and intimate, especially where fire, grief and memory collapse into ash.
The green flash imagery is unforgettable. Beautifully written.
One constant life-fire changed 💕 LOVE.
Gosh this was so stunningly beautiful and deep. Loved your poem!
A haunting, lyrical meditation on loss and perception—its imagery burns quietly, then lingers. The final line reframes the entire piece with tenderness, turning spectacle into intimate remembrance.