Wildfire, Ballad from Wordsworth "I Wondered" Challenge Options

[Larry]

Wildfire

The sky was filled; a grey and dirty cloud
hung low above the blackened rolling hills
where pine and aspen grew. What was a crowd
surrounded by admiring daffodils
is now a cemetery. Fallen trees
are what is left from fire’s voracious breeze.

Some few contain small embers which still shine
with greedy tongues; lick residue away.
The devastation seemed to form a line
to where the hillsides swept into the bay
now choked with ash. There was no parting glance
at what was left from that inferno’s dance.

Black footprints marked flames’ torrid steps where they
had leapt through emerald spires with mindless glee
in pirouettes. What once was green and gay
had now become an ebon company.
A lightning storm with bolts quick as a thought
came through the virgin forest and had brought

sure death. The charred remains of creatures lie
in unmarked graves as though a conqueror’s mood
negated all remorse. With blinded eye,
the victor’s legacy was solitude
and trailing in his wake the hot air fills
with tiny remnants of burnt daffodils.

[Merlin]

I'll come back to this.

Reading the 1st verse reminded me of one I wrote only a few months ago, about a cemetery in Vienna. It's the Nameless Cemetery - and I haven't been there, only from researching something did I stumble on it. I'll take a look for it, can't be too far down.

[Cleo_Serapis]

OOOhhh - what a fabulous, if bleak response to this challenge, Larry!

I really like how easy you've made tit look and flow into a story. The images are rather disturbing (as most out of control wildfires go) but the ending is so poignant:
and trailing in his wake the hot air fills
with tiny remnants of burnt daffodils.

Love the personification of "as though a conqueror’s mood negated all remorse. With blinded eye, the victor’s legacy was solitude"

Enjoyed!
~Cleo

[Larry]

Hi Lori,

Thank you for the visit and I'm glad you enjoyed.

Doing these really helps one feel how much a word's worth! He He.

Larry