(Four Poems Inspired by Photo Below)
F o r e s t F i r e
Some called it loss, a
great holocaust
when the Yellowstone
burned on for days,
as tenderbox trees
went ablaze in the breeze
most everyone saw it
that way.
Some looked for blame
and others for rain
and all for some end
to this time,
a natural fact
or a criminal act
this wanton and merciless
crime.
And then it was done,
smoke filtered by sun
as we looked on at what
had occurred,
the life that was lost
the terrible cost
were more than the limits
of words.
The land was all seared
and much more we feared
a lifetime would not
bring it back,
like spires of charred
stones
dark trees stood alone
in a landscape
of smoldering black.
Then a season went past
this forest of ash
and a host of new things
had begun,
where ground was soot
black
the grass had come back
and new life from no
life had sprung.
The forage that spring
was luscious and green
the wildlife could not
want for more,
by old trees now dead
grew new ones instead
the same as the old growth
before.
That's when it became
so wondrously plain
the old will make way
for the new,
and there is a plan
far greater than man
that moves along constant
and true.
For we had forgot what
the Father had not
for everything there
is a time,
and they that don't reap
are all in His keep
a lesson of light for
the blind.
God grant us this wish
we profit from this
for such things will
happen again,
like His only son
on a cross cruelly hung
a death that brought
new life to men.
Rod
Nichols
©
2001
W i l d F i r e
Glowing embers and ashes
Fill the night sky
Competing for the beauty
Of the full moon
And calm twinkling stars.
Nature at work
Clearing away the underbrush
Illuminating the deadwood
Making space for a new
start.
God’s creatures relying
on instinct
Scatter haphazardly to
the four winds.
Seeking a save haven,
Waiting for this metamorphosis
to end.
Within a few anxious
days
The residue of black
crust
Will be broken by fresh
green.
Tomorrow’s gentle rain
and sunshine
Will quench the thirst
of devastation
And bring new, glorious
life again.
Paula
J. Richards-Hales
©
2/22/01
H e l l ' s F u r y
Heat settles down on a
summer night
in a skin of ashen smoke
A full Moon behind a
mask of crimson haze
contends with a fiery
false horizon
the stars completely
defeated
Torrents of air are sucked
through ravines and gorges
billowing flames to teasingly
lick the heavens
A disquieting stillness
has settled on the forest
No friendly cricket chirps
this night
Habitat and home soon
gone
The Earth is smothered
in smoldering cinders
A noise seldom heard
hums in the ears
the roar of an inferno
consuming all in its path
and drones of planes
dumping borate
Tons that might as well
be teaspoons
Explosions rattle the
air
as hundred years old
pine spires erupt into flame
Splitting them apart
to their hearts
Sending sparkling embers
shooting high above
Occasionally voices will
be heard
of sweaty, smudged fire
crews
Scrambling to control
the uncontrollable
Please you must
Whisper a prayer for
them
The horizon is lit by
trillions of sparklers
A blazing negative to
color film
A reversed beauty
As the panoramic picture
prior to the fire
Of a green a fruitful
earth fills one with awe
So this negative of hell
on earth empties you
And leaves you with forbidding
Soon the scorch of a
summer day will settle
like a clammy woolen
suit
While the sun struggles
to shine
offering up only a yellow-haze
Lungs struggle for air
Views bring despair
Once lush mountains now
blackened and bare-boned
Yes, eventually they
will put some meat back on
But they will forever
be changed
Old stumps will attest
to the scarring
In a hundred years the
trees will again
toss their green blankets
over the hills
If Hell's fury doesn't
rage against them again
Kathy
Leighty
©
2001
"Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot
be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God
acceptably with reverence and godly fear: For
our God is a consuming fire." Hebrews 12:28,29
C O M E S T A N D I N T H E R I V E R O F G O D
Come and stand in the
river, the river of God
'Til the wildfire tempest
is past
as His flames cleanse
the earth wherein sinners have trod
And the dross is removed
with a blast.
And be still in yourself,
for you know He is God,
Him whose glory outshines
every sun,
with His brightness He'll
lead with His staff and His rod
leaving nothing unturned
'til it's done.
'Til the chaff of the
earth be removed like a pod
and the refuse be burned
in the way,
Come and stand in the
river, the river of God
while His blazes burn
stubble and hay.
Anne
Hamon
©
Feb 26, 2001
"And he shewed me a pure river of water of life,
clear as crystal, proceeding out of
the throne of God and of the Lamb." Revelation
22:1