For a blinding moment,
it was the light that bound me.
The world
was consumed by fire,
and the flames licked the earth clean.
The stars adorned the monstrous scene,
offering a useless blanket
of security.
But the fire
was neither friend,
nor foe.
And that traitorous night
in that wood,
burned the embers of a thousand souls;
and the trees charred to dust,
reveling in their torment.
The lies crackled as they sizzled away in the fire.
Left behind were ashes of broken vows and unkept promises.
And the smoke rose,
like soft whispers
fading into the night.
– Aarya Sohal (10F)