Home » Poems » L Milton Hankins » Up In Smoke

Up In Smoke

I was five when our house went up in smoke
My dad was out of work, and we were flat broke
There was no fire department in Hico, W.Va.,
We could only stand by and watch the melee
As neighbors tried to save whatever they could,
But fire quickly swallowed up the soft pine wood
Thankfully, our grandparents could take us in
As my parents pondered how to begin again
To recover from the loss of almost everything,
For our family the fire was a grand awakening
As we learned how suddenly goods can be taken,
A belief in divine providence can also be shaken.

HONORABLE MENTION
written January 14, 2022
"Up in Smoke"
for "This or That, Vol 9" Poetry Contest
sponsored by Edward Ibeh

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Edward Ibeh

Date: 1/28/2022 7:59:00 AM

Fabulous poem, Milt:-) Congratulations on your win in my contest.

L Milton Hankins
Date: 1/28/2022 9:29:00 AM

Thank you, Edward. I'm happy it slipped in under the wire!

Caren Krutsinger

Date: 1/17/2022 3:41:00 AM

You were five and your house burned down in front of you! This is serious trauma. Wow! I am glad you had grandparents who were close by!

L Milton Hankins
Date: 1/17/2022 8:56:00 AM

Okay, truth time. Actually, it was my grandparents home that burned and I was already gone into the military. However, I came home from school one day and noticed the ceiling in our living room around the pipe was blackened. It had caught fire and my mom dashed a pan of dishwater on it. Luckily, she got it out or our house would have burned. So, poem is a mixture of fact and fiction. My grandmother, in her 70s, did stand and watch her home burn to the ground. It was the grandma's house of my childhood.