The Inferno - Chapters 1 - 3 -- Poetry by Elise Chen
The Inferno - Chapter 1: Firestorm
A maiden
With lush green hair
And eyes that hold
A worldÂ
Of theirÂ
Own
Mother to all
Birds and monkeys
Tapirs and jaguars
Her children find
Refuge
In her protecting
Sunlit
Canopies
The sky turns dark
As her hairÂ
Is dyed black
The red silk
Licks her feet
Like an anaconda
Wrapping around
Its prey
It goes for
The strike
Shooting its fiery venom
At everything in sight
Spitting flames
Left and right
The maiden trips
A glossy coatÂ
Of tears encases her eyes
As she sits
In the eye
Of the firestorm
Â
The Inferno - Chapter 2: Cinder
With rich brown hair
And golden, honey eyes
She basks in the sun
In her arms
She lifts upÂ
Her children
Wallabies and dingos
Koalas and kookaburras
They restÂ
In her spacious plains
A set of teeth
Waiting behind her back
Going for the kill
Like a Tasmanian devil
The embers they bring
Come straight from Hell
A lone hunter
Picking off her children
One by one
Grabbed by the throat
Her children choke
On the smoke
In a ring of fire
Their trapped
And their situation
Has become dire
6 moons later
Still trapped in the circle
The woman remains silent
Covered in cinder
Â
The Inferno - Chapter 3: Fire Fighters
Hovering over us all
sits a warrior
With a long flowing gown
And atop her head, a crown
The torch in her hands
Lights a flame
To spread across the plains
across the concrete jungle
across the bleak barren skies
Bringing color
To a monochrome world
The flames flicker and run
swallowing up the cold metal
booming through the streets
the blaring sirens sing their song
as the danger turns 3D
with the red and blue lights
as the sirens runÂ
coated in steel armor
cold to the touch
a wall of ice
divides the land
and from the torch
The flames start sprinting
to each corner of the land
enveloping the warrior’s children
in a comforting warmth
sparking the blazeÂ
in their hearts
and their hands
and from the oil spilt from their hands
The slick sliver spreads across the plains
Creating the very veins
in which the embers follow
like a free flowing river
Surrounding the heartÂ
of the fire
where her people and children
can all fill their buckets with scorching sparks
the searing splashes slosh around
guiding the children to safety
together they are warm
protected from the frigid cold
Together they march
Together they stand
each brimmed bucket
is another heart
Set on fire
The burning buckets buckledÂ
In the seats of their cars
In the grips of their fingers
Are tossed onto the steel stakes
melting away the chains
as the fire fighters burn away
the ice surrounding the heartsÂ
Of the guardsÂ
with their buckets and hoses
out spew the life bringing flames
melting away the icy metal
that coldly clamps around its victim
and from the melted remainsÂ
of the ice prison
Rises another person
with their heart burning
another person to fill their bucket
and free the peopleÂ
another person
to join the march
and earn their badge
As a fire fighter
Â
Elise Siregar Chen is currently a 11th grader. She loves English literature and enjoys writing poems and short stories. Elise also likes to draw: her favorite contemporary artist is Yayoi Kusama. She is an ambassador for Girls Helping Girls Period, where she helps and raises awareness for girls who do not have the means or access to personal hygiene products. She has published poetry in Euphamism, and Poetry Quarterly.