Prison Dixie

Prison Dixie An orange glow reigns down Upon concrete paths. Ash flails as it falls. Vanished pine needles Blackening the ground beneath. Drifting along sidewalks. Ominous haze hangs air As darkness eases over the land. Masked, I move through quiet eerie. Razor wire towers above. Souls remain inside the concrete walls As I exit the gates in cowardice. Dixie is fierce. She grasps the breath of a Nation. Stealing forests. Burning oxygen. Barrening landscapes. Causing fear. I reach for my car door and pull. Settled ash raises in final fury, Stinging my eyes. I am surrounded by the smell of smoke visibly stuck in the valley. Headlights bounce off road signs As I drive home. Dixie is brazen. She harms our lungs and causes trauma While etching blackness into the land And leaving swathes of scars. A tragedy in the making looms In the mountains As the orange sun burns bright above. -Chelsey Robb