River Meadow Road

from my place beside the lake
I look up at mansions and villas across the water
as they burn endless fires
on River Meadow Road

I had always wanted to be like those people
the ones
on River Meadow Road
I had wanted to be prettier without beauty
ignorant without consequence
alive without a care

their fires had started small
embers that had blazed into the night
as their greed grew the fire too drew
in more and more fuel
as it sought to bring about
the day that time ends

everyday as I watched
the fires across the sea
the embers roared higher
into the night
a light bright enough to
guide ships to shore

the flames licked the stars
and ashes rained from the clouds
like tears from the sea
as it struggled to breathe
in air made dusky
without even a sun to set

I’d always wanted to be like the people
on River Meadow Road
so unknowing of the bridges
I burn away

tonight the fire burns brighter than ever before
the mansions and villas across the way
are caught in billows of smoke
and ash

and even now as I help them to shore
the ones
on River Meadow Road
wonder why the world dies
and just who started the fire

it consumes trees and bushes in its wake
there’s smoke in my eyes
and ashes in my heart
I am burning

across the water I watch the fire
on River Meadow Road
as it creeps beyond the way
to where I stand
from my place beside the lake

I am on the shore
with the folks who ran away
from the fire which destroyed
River Meadow Road

we watch in terror as the fire climbs to the sky
burning away the sights we knew
and the world we thought we would always be a part of

the world is aflame
and we watch it burn together
on the day that time ends.

did my deeds even matter
when we became ash
all the same
without a grave to our name
besides the soot
which buried us
across the way
from River Meadow Road