Sun through smoke in Campbell River
photo by Brad Bourget
Wildfires burn;
haze covers land,
blanket of gloom.
Eerie sun,
apocalyptic sky,
a portent of doom.
Flames crackle,
wildlife flee,
humans displaced.
Everything burns,
a reckoning come
for the human race.
Mother Earth seeks relief
from unending heat,
but Sky has no tears.
The land burns on,
the forests gone.
We're left
with our fears.
for Flash 55 at Real Toads
source Times Colonist, August 5, 2017:
........as of 9 a.m. today, there were 122 wildfires burning in B.C. As of 8 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 3, 2017, there were 25 evacuation orders affecting approximately 7,127 individuals, plus 42 evacuation alerts impacting approximately 24,957 people.
Wildfires terrify me - the damage is almost too much to bear.
ReplyDeleteSuch powerful imagery in this one, Sherry. May the wildfires cease to exist..
ReplyDeleteYou've created amazing images, Sherry, of something I have never seen. I can't imagine the heat. I love the lines:
ReplyDelete'Eerie sun,
apocalyptic sky,
a portent of doom'.
The earth is sick with a virus and has a fever. We are that virus. I love the short staccato of the lines. One can almost hear the flames snapping as they mercilessly consume all in their path.
ReplyDeleteOh gods, so many wildfires, and so little people heeding the signs.
ReplyDeleteIt is said of the Anthropocene that we can no longer hide from the uncanny presence of the world we disordered. It hangs in the air like smoke. Wildfires are too big for the human and their grief is immense. Sing of it, yes.
ReplyDeleteYou drove this one home. Thank you. We in Calif. made some mistakes and are experiencing wild fires.
ReplyDeleteOh dear, I hate bushfire season.
ReplyDeleteWildfire is scary. Picture of the 'eerie sun', 'apocalyptic sky', burnt earth really portend doom here. But humans are foolishly fearless. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteA dear friend has been sharing images of the sky, the sun on her hometown (in Vancouver)--the sun looks read and eerie though the smoke, as if it just escaped your poem... It's terrifying.
ReplyDeleteSigns everywhere that the Earth is in the long process of some deep homeostasis. We....we are in trouble.
ReplyDeleteBut not enough tears it seems to put out the fire. So sad, and too true, Sherry.
ReplyDeleteIt is frightening when a big threat can be there all the while to strike at its own 'leisure'
ReplyDeleteHank
The sun looks like it should be on a tree such a red berry
ReplyDeletethese are my favourite lines
" but Sky has no tears.
The land burns on,"
much love...
Well written and direct, Sherry,
ReplyDeleteElizabeth
How many thousand years has 'civilised" mankind lived on this earth yet still learns nothing about preserving the planet for the future.
ReplyDeleteA reckoning for sure. xo
ReplyDelete