Dog Mountain photo courtesy Wade Epp
Under the imperturbable
blackened bowl of sky,
the fires burned all night;
the crackle and roar licking at the heels
of the frightened fleeing deer,
the singed wolves,
the crouching cougar,
the mother bear and her cubs.
All are expelled, terrified,
hungry and homeless,
onto the streets and roads,
no safe place to run,
frightened, helpless, exposed
to the wildlife officer's gun
come morning.
What a world this is. Global warming bringing such extreme heat that rainforests turn into deserts. What will it take for legislation to come from government, for the tough changes to be made? For industry to do their part, pay their share, clean up their mess?
CBC News
Today there is a news story going viral, about a wildlife officer up-Island being suspended without pay for refusing to shoot two orphaned bear cubs. He took them to a wildlife recovery centre after their mother was shot, as she desperately tried to find food. Not much food available in burning forests. Or in dried up rivers.
Because he had a heart, and is humane, he did not follow orders. Good for him! What a world this is, where every problem is solved by shooting something, where the preservation of the planet we live on is not our first priority.
The little bears will be all right and will be released into the wild once they are old enough. If there is any wild left by then.
for Sumana's prompt at Poets United: Night. It is hard for me to write right now. I find this hard to take, my friends.
Oh my lord, this is so tragic! I can't believe that the mother bear was shot and her cubs have been left to live without her. This saddens me deeply.I wish the world was a better place to live in :(
ReplyDeleteThat was a good thing that wildlife officer did. Good heart indeed.
ReplyDeleteYour poem reminds us that summer is not fun for all creatures. What is happening in Canada is frightening and could have been avoided. Who will listen?
ReplyDeleteSuch a dark night of the soul! bringing out one good heart! How can we write to support this man?
ReplyDeleteSusan, on facebook there is a petition to reinstate him. But the system is so skewed, we face moral choices of conscience everywhere we turn. I am glad he listened to his own good heart. I am sad that mama bear was shot - she was desperate for food. So much habitat has been and is being lost. The wild things suffer, and when they are flushed out onto "our" streets, they get shot. A thin starving cougar got shot yesterday.
DeleteWhat a terrible thing this is.It's hard to imagine that there are still people who insist that global warming is not real...as if the earth could still be considered flat.
ReplyDeleteOn another note, I am glad to be back at Imaginary Gardens. I took a break from everything when I got so sick last autumn and it really left me kind of checked out for a long time.
I am so happy to see you back!
Deleteyour writing for "night" was lovely, I can hear that fire crackling, it is eerie, I have lost a home to fire, as a matter of fact in the Angeles forest ( Station fire) in Calif in 2009, your writing brings back such memories.
ReplyDeleteSuch intense emotions captured in this poem. Really, the heart jabs when we get to know that forests are getting burned, due to global warming. Beautiful and powerful.
ReplyDeleteWhat a bleak picture of night you paint with your lines, and sadly it's not off the mark at all :(
ReplyDeleteIt's hard for me to say anything because all I can do is cry.
ReplyDeleteI don't know the answers. I just got back from Alaska, where the snow no long sticks in Ketchikan and the glacial at Tracy Arm has retreated so much that it is hard to see--Have we tipped to the place where we can't fix this?
ReplyDeleteThese fires are so very tragic for the animals. My heart breaks for this wildlife official with a heart. A person should not be jailed for doing the right thing.
ReplyDeleteAt times I often feel ashamed to be part of the human race. But if I wasn't somebody would be pointing a gun or poisoning me! Keep protesting Sherry.
ReplyDeleteAnd yet we keep destroying their habitat, keep building more asphalt, chrome and glass.. the greed never ends.
ReplyDelete"Pink Paradise" and put up a parking lot.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very sad write, Sherry. You told it all so well. And you picked the cutest bear cub pair pic.
Another tough item in our "civilization" -- tonight I'm having a turn staying with a young homeless family, a Mom and a very cute nine-month old son. Our church is hosting families for a week, then another church will have a turn, ad ...
Mom said the only good thing about the AWOL dad was that he was over six feet tall. She hoped he passed those genes. She came here from N. Jersey based on a broken promise. Bless her, she has been interviewing for jobs already and she just came this Sunday.
It is really saddening to see the plight of animals, nature is for all and we humans have no right to take it away from any living being.
ReplyDeleteA strange night has descended on this Earth...men of light are not honored here...so very tragic...sigh.. the poem and the note do make us AWARE of the impending danger...
ReplyDeleteTo have no place left to run is the most horrendous position to be in for human or animal - I admire that ranger..for his humanity and most of all for not blindly following orders
ReplyDeleteI have been reading about the devastation of the Canadian fires on the news. My heart goes out to the animals caught up in the flames and the loss of livelihood for many.
ReplyDeleteHow devastating n disgusting!! Is death a solution to the problems of living??? Ridiculous policy!! I feel sad for the officer.. and my heart goes out to those little cubs..:(
ReplyDeleteThis is from the heart and such a powerful observation on the world we live in. I can feel your tears in this.
ReplyDeleteThe devastation of a forest fire, for whatever reason is heart-breaking.. Wonderful and passionate write.
ReplyDeleteThis is heartbreaking and infuriating!
ReplyDeleteSherry,
ReplyDeleteDevastating news which is becoming all too frequent. Your chilling words that we are busy turning the rainforest into deserts, is so very accurate. Not only by these wild fires, but by the logging industries which in south America, are only clearing the way for other industries. I think the ranger who defied orders to save the two brown bear cubs, merits an an award, as well as being reinstated in his worthy role..Night sky hell...
Eileen
Heartbreaking and tragic.
ReplyDeleteThose cubs look quite lost!
ReplyDeleteI am sure you will discover many such worthy souls as the ranger around you, who would listen to their conscience and reason rather than blindly follow orders or let themselves be bullied into unthinking craziness; cheer up!
Oh! poor creatures... :-( so helpless in front of the wrath of nature...
ReplyDelete"blackened bowl of the sky"- will be in my mind for long...
The pain experienced by the animals who in habit nature with us is greatest when we don't look for better solutions.
ReplyDeleteThe wildlife officer has a good heart and good on him. Oh that there were more like him prepared to make a stand for what is right.
ReplyDeleteLove your words Sherry.
Anna :o]
A frightful way for night to become day, Sherry. We are very used to droughts and bushfires here in Australia, but our natural environment has adapted better to it over the millennia. It doesn't lighten the sadness of wildlife being lost to the flames, though.
ReplyDeleteGreat take on the prompt.