By: Joshua Nichols
Winner of the 2015 Poetic Forms Contest: Elegy
I stared into the red fire
as the flames began to dwindle.
Reduced to embers, the charred logs
released ashes carried off by the wind
and I watched them flitter in the air.
A faith once strong and bright
reduced to nothing but endless questions
and faint glimmers of hope; ashes in the breeze.
A memory consumed by the passing of time
of once before, when I was
sure and strong and a light on a hill
for all to see.
I used to gather with others,
the smell of burnt marshmallows
ever present in my nostrils
and the sounds of joyous laughter
to lift my heart, and
an occasional revelation reached through
the sharing of testimony.
The warmth of brotherhood and
faith no longer lives inside,
replaced by the spirit of the skeptic.
I turn away from the now silent fire
and hold my head high
only to be brought back to the same place
in my mind where my thoughts
weigh me down.
Joshua Nichols is a Computer Information Systems major with a love for science fiction and an interest in NASA’s space programs. His favorite book is The Hobbit and he is an avid follower of American politics.