I wrote this for Bradley Howington's Poetry Challenge.
A Mother’s Fear
by Lisa McCourt Hollar
Fire angrily licks the walls,
Darkness growing inside,
A family sleeping unaware
Of danger to their lives.
Leaping flames dance and glide
Creating beauty light.
A mother wakens from her sleep,
Anxiously taking flight.
Taunting, laughing, leap the flames,
Blocking her from her tot,
A mother’s terror born this night,
In a hell her fears have wrought
Searching through the blaze,
She reaches for her child,
Whilst flames eat away her flesh,
An inferno spreading wild.
Trapped within the fire,
A mother holds her dear,
Whispering words of love,
In hopes to calm his fear.
Her terror grows as the flames,
Surrounding all escape,
Trapped within this nightmare,
She longs for Heavens wake.
Showering on their bodies,
Ash and soot and rain
Though they do not notice,
Spirits freed from pain.
Copyright© 2011 Lisa McCourt Hollar. All rights reserved.
I loved the emotion the poem calls forth. It's the real possibililty that makes it so cringe-worthy. Love it, Lisa.
ReplyDeleteExcellent poem, Lisa. As a father of eight children, I understand the sacrifice that parents would gladly accept to save a child.
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