Poetry From Fire Camp

The urge and motivation to write is often unpredictable, and is frequently elusive. When the need to produce a written product is eminent there can often be worry, pressure and concern. This often causes my brain to lock up completely and become bereft of any useable ideas.

I’ve only penned a piece of poetry a few times. However, I’ve done it enough to realize it’s not my best form of writing. Yet when the idea for something in rhyme firmly plants itself between my ears, sometimes the only way to get any rest is to start putting something together.

This incident of inspiration occurred while I was working and living in the Trinity Alps last summer. I was assigned to the Monument Fire for a total of 58.5 days, so there was plenty of time to think. This is a spectacular area. Highway 299 runs east and west through the area between Redding and Eureka. Between Junction City and Willow Springs 299 winds along the Trinity River beneath towering ridges and peaks. As I gazed at the beautiful forest surrounding my trailer, the obvious subject matter for my poetic endeavor had to be something about fires or maybe even about preventing them. This is not the greatest piece of poetry ever written, but the message I intended to present clearly comes through.

I was hesitant to put this in my column, but was urged by friends who heard me read it, to share it with you. It’s not epic, but is kind of fun. I hope you enjoy it.

Houses built on forest land

May rest in groves of green

Nestled in among the trees

And near a gurgling stream

Idyllic in setting and view

It was built without a thought

Of how to stop a roaring fire

Or protect your life in this spot

Ladder fuels which fire can climb

Must be trimmed around all sides

To keep a fire from climbing up

Destroying what’s inside

When lightning cracks and thunder rolls

A winter storm’s a beautiful thing

But when sparks fly late in the summer

The call of fire sets the bell a’ring

If sparks fly from the heavens

And the roar of thunder descends

The forest can become an inferno

As Nature sometimes intends.

Fire is a tool in Mother Nature’s kit

She uses it to clean Her world

When lightning sparks the woods ablaze

Needles and leaves will all be curled

If you build that forest home

Be sure you plan for a fire

‘Cause one fine summer day

It could be your funeral pyre

Ignore the rules, build as you like

Beautiful trees and brush beside

No way to stem a rushing fire

Consumes that house and all inside

Bare naked dirt isn’t soft and green

But’ll let it survive a roaring blaze

With defensible space around your home

You’ll give it a chance and make sure it stays

Fire is not choosy about what it destroys

Anything that lays in its path

A low RH and a little wind

Will be consumed by threatening wrath

Yet a blaze on the hearth

Warms your heart and your mind

It makes the room cozy

Or warms your behind

But let it run rampant It’s a killer for sure A wildfire’s destruction

Is tough to endure