The Structure That Burned

Fire is a cleansing force
clearing a path, as pain 

is subsumed beneath 

the hot purity of anger. 

All the platitudes and 

empty dreams and 

"somedays" are incinerated 

leaving behind only charcoal 

used to create smudgy art,

or nourish the depleted soil 

producing tender growth. 

We do not mourn 

the structure that burned, 

we do not even consider it, 

while tending the delicate stalks 

that break through the crust

in the spring, once the ground 

has warmed and softened 

enough to be workable. 

We tuck in the seeds 

and trust in the process. 

Sky sheds farewell tears 

dispatching droplets 

onto thirsty dirt. 

The transmutation complete 

as Fire begets Earth 

and Air begets Water 

and a seed cracks open.