Burn the Bridges

Burn the Bridges

Grab the torches,

Light the fires.

It looks like the town’s

In need of a few flames.

The matches were wet,

We doused them before--

Trying to prevent terror

Before it started once more.

But we didn’t listen

Its not like we had before,

Failure to heed our past

Ensures our peace wont last.

Light the fires!

Light the fires!

But the laughter

Turned into cries!

Fill the buckets,

Fight the fires!

Can we prevent

Going down in flames?

But the fire rages,

It’s out of control--

As it’s raged before

And its taking a toll.

To the bridges,

Save the bridges!

But smoldering shapes

Are blocking our escape.

We fought for hours

Losing control.

But the pain is ours

Knowing what we’ve lost.

A chance of fate,

As miracles collide?

The rains begin to pour

And the flames subside.

No longer the need to rush

In putting out fires,

With a collective sigh of relief

The crowds began to hush.

It’s time to rejoice,

Some one laughs,

As they begin to cheer

They know now, that the end was near.

But they weren’t done...

Though the flames abridged

They still had not yet

Burned all the bridges.

Burn the bridges!

Burn the bridges!

After all they’ve seen

They burned them the same.

And as the fire engulfed

They were stoking the flames

It wasn’t necessary to burn the bridges

But they did it anyway.

By Greg Butz

August, 2009

This isn’t a poem about a fire, but how we lose ourselves in arguments and disputes. The imagery I'm trying to convey, that our arguments are just like fires and they rage out of control. And just like the old adage states, "don't burn your bridges", we have to remember that what we say or do has an effect on others, and we have to stop ourselves from taking things too far. I wrote this after a heated argument with my mother and my sister (over a ridiculous thing i.e. Texas Hold Em Poker). We don’t really need to go as far as we do -- nor is it really necessary to say all the things that we say. It feels so good in the moment, but after the fires die out, we realize how much we have really lost. And then pride gets in the way, preventing us from backing down or apologizing. Sad lessons, learnt the hard way.