With a wailing
that only the wisest hearts can hear
The ghosts of lives long past
rose on the scorching thermals
above the conflageration
We,
who loved the Grand old lady
watched with swimming eyes
As the hellish vision
grew and gained momentum.
The flames high above our heads
climbed the walls
and threaded through the passage ways.
Black tongues of smoke
tasted what would be consumed
like a string of hideous heads.
the dark windows flared red
before they shattered.
We watched the gruesome course
unravelling the lifelines
that tied us to
our Grand old dame
and left our hearts breaking.
The end came
upon the wheels of exhaustion
as a beast of steel, the colour of flame
wrought down what had not burned.
The hope that something might survive
was shattered,
and forever changed,
we turned and walked away
- Shai Snyder is and artist and writer who worked for more than 10 years at the Keremeos Hotel Liquor Store .