Twas on that solemn August eve 
When skies did glow like setting sun 
A time that no one shall forget 
That tore the town apart,  
The ruins smoldered through the morn 
And smoke engulfed the locals who 
Surveyed the scene with disbelief 
And sadness filled each heart. 
The soul had gone 
The spirit lost 
We all had paid a dreadful cost. 
 
The building stood yet but a shell 
The landscape now forever changed 
Where once a proud reminder of 
Those days so long ago,  
The workers who had stiched the seam 
And cut the cloth for many years 
Could not believe it all was gone 
So many tears did flow. 
They looked towards the smoky sky 
And there they stood all asking why?  
 
The site now cleared there's nothing left 
An empty void that can't be filled 
Another jewel been taken by 
That undeserving hand,  
For all those lives it helped to forge 
Their memories now but ash and dust 
And blown upon the weeping wind 
Across the barren land,  
The stars did shine 
The night was still 
When flames engulfed old Shannon's Mill.
ANDREW BLAKEMORE
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/shannon-s-mill/