A Hut Ablaze Poem by Dr John Celes

A poor man’s hut is ablaze
The thatched roof of Palmyra leaves
Has caught fire suddenly
No one knows how it all began
The inmates had all gone out
The neighbor rushes to pour water
But bucketfuls cannot douse the raging fire
They removed the gas cylinder somehow
If not, it could burst and spread to more houses
By the time the fire-engines arrive,
The mud hut is flattened and fully burnt
No lives are lost or hurt
But everything has gone in the flames
All clothes, TV, Cupboards, books, string-cot are now ash
All the important documents have been destroyed
The head of the family works in fields
His wife works as a servant-maid
The children have gone to school
Their mother hears the news and rushes to see
Alas! Nothing is left to salvage
The fire has not spared anything
She is too dazed to speak!
People near-by are ready to help
The mishap is heart-rending
Their hut has been razed down by an unknown fire
The poorest people suffer the most
But why does a fair God allow such unfairness?
The family has nowhere to go
Help will come but will be delayed
People enquire about the accident
Yet, what has happened has happened
The anguish in the hearts will never cease
Some local politicians come to see the site
They could help the badly hit family
A new roof may be laid in a few days
May be, this was a blessing in disguise
The local newspapers carry the news about the accident
Money is collected locally in the workplace near-by
Things will be alright again but it takes some time
But the blazing fire will so remain in the eyes of all inmates
For many months thereafter unabated
The shock will mitigate only with time
The family will limp back to normalcy
Their poverty will still remain and
THE SAD MEMORIES WILL NOT GET ERASED THAT EASILY
But thank God, luckily, no lives were lost!