Burning Thoughts

October 09, 2017



Last night
fire
ran
wild
through
village 
and vineyard
laying claim 
to hillsides
laying waste
to old 
vine
lives

Electricity
jolted
the city
by the bay
ripping
through 
panicked
telephone wire
and 
facebook flurry
igniting
what has become
the daily duff


Islands
are
flooded
but 
there is no 
water
to
drink

Parched
Paper towels
tossed
for 
photo
ops

smoke and mirror
compassion
masking
the *versterven

While
We
die
of
thirst

We wake
to the sun shining
behind
smoke laden skies
grey and heavy
like
smog
over
Athens

the
millennials
flood
outside cafes
sit sipping
prettified
lattes
and
smoke
like
the
gods

We watch
as we near the end
of one
of four
and fear 
worse is yet to come

dread
clings
to the cloth
of the day
like the smell 
of campfire
and
regret





OctPoWriMo 17 Day 9
Wild fire burning on Soda Canyon Road in Napa, Calif., on Monday, October 9, 2017.
  Photo Credit: Carlos Avila Gonzalez, The Chronicle

*https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/zwelten

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6 comments

  1. ms_liliOctober 9, 2017 at 6:23 PM

    it's a living nightmare that you describe :(

    ReplyDelete
  2. Annis CassellsOctober 9, 2017 at 10:31 PM

    Wow! I love this poem. A great commentary on the times we're faced with today. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Here, There be a WriterOctober 10, 2017 at 11:27 AM

    That is awesomely powerfully, and so truthfully sad. Thank you for sharing!

    ReplyDelete

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