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Temple of Transition, Burning Man, 2011

They built you to be burned, my gilded temple, And everyone sobbed when you went up in flames. For a week you were the jewel of Black Rock City, A building but so much more, the world's largest harp, more magnificent than the one I traded for my ticket. You were our chosen sacrifice, A holy place people visited to cry, mourn the dead, and find peace. With silver paint I wrote about my heartache and loneliness on your walls, as so many others before me had. Standing around the funeral pyre, We shared a moment of silence for those departed, As you burned for our sins and were canonized. The hush lasted until you were nothing more than: the reflection of flames on a weeping face, A charred spot in the desert, ash carried away by the wind. Fire destroyed what was once beautiful, but the embers of the temple danced in the pitch-black sky; like an infinite number of flickering stars.
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Written by
jenette-debarge
American
Published
Feb 21, 2012
Lines·Words
33·163
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