Poem for the Fourth of July

Screaming Fire

Streams of color light the night,

Exploding across the dark dome

of heaven,

Red, yellow, blue and white

Against the black veil they flash.

Their colors light up the night.

Sulfur, charcoal, nitrate; elements
of earth
Stream fire up, up
As if to reach the heavens
Then dissolve into darkness,
Leaving one last color: black.


--Chandler Hamby (Grade 9)


Related: Ed Pacht's Reflection on Screaming Fire