Fire ripped through the quiet night,
An explosion that seared trees and rocks and
Everything round for miles.
Then liquid fire lapped its slow way
Over the valley,
Easing its way down into the ocean.

In the midst of this turmoil,
A single fragment survived,
Stone stronger than stone,
The memory of the village that once lived.

Now birds and beasts make their home
In the fertile ground left behind in destruction’s wake.
Perhaps one day some ingenious, determined scientist will find
The memory of who we once were
In the ashes.

X post for the A-Z Challenge.