Ashes Side by side the silent vehicles wait - anticipate the bitter light of day. Miles away, beside a buckled track the fragments of a hundred shattered lives are solemnly retrieved, and sealed away. Mobile 'phones bleat weakly as they fade. Like sparks the digits flicker, dimly flash. So many words forever left unsaid are trapped in time amidst the smoking wreckage as men in white sift mutely through the ash. Racing home to light the birthday candles; Feeling a new life inside take root; Hoping that this love will last forever; A swirl of dreams cascade inside the carriage and scatter like confetti underfoot. One by one, as arc-lights damp the darkness, illuminated tableaux are revealed - candles lend their warmth to fading flowers and light the way for pilgrims paying homage at altars of moquette and crumpled steel.
Carole Houston
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