INCINERATION

Snapping like kindling, deep in the blaze,
Sparks going skyward, a visage displays,
Broken and breaking, the lines of a face
Chock out of time and plumb out of space.

I hate my old pictures; I set them aflame,
They don't belong anymore to my name,
And what isn't mine, I gladly destroy
Like time did Rome, Atlantis and Troy -

Or even just merely a ten-year-old boy.

I tear at the edges, split at the seams,
Fall off the ledges of brittle bad dreams,
Carry on falling and not climbing out
Of pits of depression, derision and doubt.

Time heals all wounds and closes all scars,
To add to the torture within its own bars,
The coming of wisdom with age is a con
When the only true wisdom is not living on -  

I wake up each morning, hating the dawn.

So now I burn pictures to purge off the past,
Why should they be lasting when I do not last?
I ask many questions and get no replies
And all that I love eventually dies.

So why should I bother to love now at all
When nothing’s forever – but ever a thrall
To time’s executioner, who cuts it all down
Chops it all up, or lets it all drown?  

Green leaves in autumn should burn till they’re brown.