After the Fire – A Poem by Mark Tulin

Poetry by Mark Tuilin

After the fire,
we could still taste
the metallic smoke
on our parched lips.

A smell of charred
homes and trees
still linger under our noses.

Our eyes still burn
with tears of loss and fear.
Will it happen again, we wonder.

After the fire,
there is a snowy dust
that covers our cars and walkways.
The sky glows a burnt orange
from our back window.

There is the mask
that covers our faces.
Like a dazed phantom,
we lurk behind closed doors
in dark, secret spaces.

In our worried minds,
we still see the flames
on the distant hillside.
We have nightmares
of being trapped and left behind.

About the Poet

Mark Tulin is a former family therapist who lives in Santa Barbara, California.  His poetry often finds beauty in the lives of the neglected and disenfranchised. He has a poetry chapbook, Magical Yogis, published by Prolific Press (2017).  His work appears in Page and Spine, Fiction on the Web, Amethyst Review, Friday Flash Fiction, The Drabble, smokebox, and others. His website is Crow On The Wire.