There is nothing left to cull
from this scene,
no great lesson to be learned.

True, there was a city here once,
but truer still
that city has burned.

Unsalvageable,
the superfluous miscellany
that remains—

a pearl button, a bit of bone,
the broken smile
of a toothless comb,

redundant souvenirs, all.
No use in pondering a puzzle
whose pieces never made sense

in the first place.
And whatever passion
precipitated its rise,

ignited its fall,
can fuel no further contemplation.
There is really nothing here,

really nothing at all,
no billow of smoke,
no smoldering rubble,

only scattered ash:
the aftermath's
cold ruin.

01/21/2024

Posted on 01/21/2024
Copyright © 2024 Dane Campbell