Such childhood allure
They were a part of our lives
When I was so young
My dad raking leaves
Us boys playing in the heaps
Mum at the window
That sweet smell of fire
The scent as it clung to us
Staring at embers
We thought that we helped
As eyes smarting in the smoke
Laughing ran away
Later we poked the ashes
Why did I feel such sadness
That game was over
Was a lesson learned
That all of life is consumed
Then gone forever?
There is a jubilation as the flames rise and a sadness as the embers are covered. I love the life you gave to the fire...
ReplyDeletethat picture of mom watching her sons play is very similar to my childhood too.
ReplyDeleteas a child, we are excited with all the things around us, must be curiosity and when it's taken away from us, we feel mostly sad...
Yes, I think the lesson is there--but also the earlier lesson--to live to laugh to romp to enjoy to be safe near great danger ... Your poem plays those memmories beautifully!
ReplyDeleteI can remember these days, and almost smell the burning leaves. So ugly when they were all burned up and such a small pile left!
ReplyDeleteYour poem reminds me of burning leaves with my father as well. It was part of the autumn ritual, and I loved the smell of burning leaves on my clothing later on...I wish now I had photos of these times, of my dad stoking the flames with a stick, and of little me by his side.
ReplyDeleteWhat wonderful childhood memories - days gone by...
ReplyDeleteThe smell is so evocative...how it stays on your clothes and makes it last a little longer...hopefully life changes....and doesn't end for a while yet
ReplyDeletegreat sense of nostalgia
ReplyDeleteAll fires die, but the best leave a long afterglow.
ReplyDeleteHmm the good old days
ReplyDeleteI have always adored the smell of smoke from burning leaves, always takes me back to my childhood, walking home from school in the dusk. So poignant, your closing lines.
ReplyDeleteah, sometimes memories can be bittersweet.
ReplyDeleteoftentimes i look back on happy moments of childhood with a tear in my eye...it is true, you can never go back!
I love staring at embers -- and the dancing of the flames. Poignant memories and closing lines.
ReplyDeleteIt's feels like revelation maybe for life 'gone forever' at young age, when everything seems endless...
ReplyDeleteThose sweet memories are there to stave off the awfulness which serves no purpose to dwell on unless you can change it. !
ReplyDeleteI love how this flame spreads and light up the memories of childhood in a sweet & cherished glow....the second stanza is such a picture of happiness :)...
ReplyDelete'All of life is consumed.' I like that line and the warm feeling of the poem, the memories of childhood. Very well written.
ReplyDeleteBeautifully written poem, O.E.
ReplyDeleteYes a memory from a prompt. Though I must say sometimes play is just play not everything has a lesson.
ReplyDelete