Water bomber fighting a fire near Prince George – July 2014 (Photo © 2015 by V. Nesdoly)
Forest Fire Roundel
The forest’s a pyre of crackling heat
bombers are buzzing, flame fighters for hire
glisten black sweat as they hack, spray and beat.
The forest’s a pyre.
Crashing through undergrowth, vaulting barbed wire
squirrel, deer, raccoon dash a panic retreat
to the roar of the fire-wind, flames leaping higher.
Wildfire fighters resist all defeat
as they backhoe and guard, seeming never to tire.
Sweethearts and wives pray below in the street
for the forest’s a pyre.
© 2013 Violet Nesdoly (first published in the Dr. William Henry Drummond Poetry Contest Anthology 2013)
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What dreadful scenes we’re seeing on the news about wildfires in the south of B.C. and Washington State. My thoughts and prayers are with firefighters and their families in these difficult days.
This poem is linked to Poetry Friday, hosted this week by Catherine at Reading to the Core.
Violet Nesdoly / poems 