Poetry

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By

Howard Brown

 

 

 

Your House Is Burning

 

 

Wake up, friend,

your house

is burning—

 

a fire

brought to life

after smoldering for years.

 

Those on the right smile,

pointing smugly

at their brethren on the left,

 

while the left lashes out,

blaming those seated

on the opposite side of the aisle,

 

the anger and vitriol

of both serving only

to further fan the flames.

 

Wake up, friend,

your house

is burning.

 

Will you continue to chase

after those you believe

to have set the fire,

 

or turn and

put out the flames before

your house lies in ashes?

 

 

 

 

 

Howard Brown

Howard Brown is a poet and writer who lives in Chattanooga, Tennessee on Lookout Mountain. His poetry has appeared in Burningword Literary Journal, Poetry Super Highway, Old Hickory Review, Lone Stars Magazine and Blue Collar Review. In 2012, he published a collection of poems entitled “The Gossamer Nature of Random Things.” His poem “Pariah” placed first in the poetry division of the 2015 William Faulkner Literary Competition sponsored by Mississippi’s Tallahatchie Riverfest. He has published short fiction in Louisiana Literature, F**k Fiction, Crack the Spine, Pulpwood Fiction, Extract(s), Gloom Cupboard and Full Of Crow.