‘Would Fire have listened to Reason’
Or ‘Stop Smoking’

From the dark mouth of the dragon
Carved on the wall of a bridge
Came a train,
Through a roaring darkness,
The sun’s shafts of light
Flaring through its windows.

From the beautiful face of a girl
Within a blaze of golden hair
Came a breath of smoke.
As the dragons heart roars out
The sun’s warmth on her clothes and brow
Does not penetrate through to the depths
Of herself.
Quiet, still and alone she sat
Like a statue of loneliness
Bursting into flame;
Would fire have listened to reason?

© C. English