I showed her the fire before she jumped in - A Poem from my [_] days....

-I showed her the fire before she jumped in-


She came to me for advice
so I filled my pipe as I listened
to her side and view of the problem.
After a time, she wound down a bit
her excitement at the new ray of hope
like a beast stalking inside her breast,
and I could reply softly, calm as I could.

"See this match, this is what you grasp at."
I struck it soft and brought it to flame,
waved it over the bowl as I puffed,
until the flame did dance on shredded leaf.
"And this is what it can turn to; fires, ash and smoke.
So girl beware of the flames you dance around,
lest they singe your wings and leave you grounded."

Another long silence, as I drew in air
to make the next point's exemplar.
When I spoke, it was after tossing out
a wispy ring of floating smoke,
"And this is the end you will see
chasing something you cannot catch and keep."
As if on queue, the breeze tore the ring apart.

She wandered away not long after that
and it was years more before I heard anything
about the boy she went for, or her fate
and if she took my advice about the match.
It had turned out bad, and she took her own life.
I cried, even though I had done my part
to show her the fire before she jumped in.