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By Tanya R. Whitney

VA Medical Center--New Orleans, LA

The crisp smell of autumn is in the air.

Gathering wood from the dying forest,

to be arranged into a blazing pyre.

The season of fall, transforming nature.

Flames shimmy and grow brighter as they flare

to life with cheery illumination.

The dry wood crackles as smoky plumes rise

in swirling mists of a bluish grey haze.

A towering blaze shoots high in the sky,

flickering red and orange in the dark,

hypnotizing those huddled around its

swelling of gyrating intensity.

Fanning the fire, stoking the glowing coals

that rise like a hellish inferno.

Sparks hover above like fireflies soaring

and gliding in the chilly autumn night.

Streaks of fiery light and color explode

with the popping sounds of Roman candles.

They shoot skyward, lighting the darkened sky,

then spiral down as smoldering cinders.

The autumn aroma of burning wood

chases away the chill of the cool night.

The brilliant light dims like the season fades,

vibrant at the start, death coming at the close.