When the Smoke Clears

“two firefighters walking on burned trees covered with smoke” by Benjamin Kerensa on Unsplash

When the smoke clears will
there be the smoldering ruins
of a vast and once gold tinted
empire?

Will the burned and scorched
shoulder bones of a Titan
blackened by the fires that burned
so bright in heart lay among
the broken glass and seared
concrete?

Or will it just be a noisy little
smudge pot whose rancid smoke
clouded far more than it could
possibly reach?

When the Smoke Clears was originally published in Publishous on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.