Field Fire

stubble still crackles
burnt fields quiver
their dry voices whisper
in devastation’s backwind

blackened trees shiver
letting fly blackened
bark and leaves – a whirlwind
of charcoal and dust

Kim M. Russell, 26th November 2018

Image result for remains of a burnt tree
Image found on Pinterest

My response to dVerse Poets Pub Poetics: Fire up that Creativity, also linked to Imaginary Garden with Real Toads Tuesday Platform

Victoria is our host this Tuesday and she tells us that less than 3 hours from where she is the people of Paradise, California are suffering the results of the most devastating fire in California history, which is why fire has been on her mind.

She says that it’s clear that fire is destructive, but it also has purifying benefits, clearing the earth for new growth. It may symbolize the end of an unhealthy relationship. The fire in a hearth brings warmth and comfort, the burning wick of a candle, light.

For today’s Poetics, Victoria would like us to write poems in whatever form we choose about fire.

56 thoughts on “Field Fire”

  2. You describe this so painfully precisely, Kim. Having lived though this, I could almost smell the after-effects when there is still so much danger. One of the things that haunts me about wildfire is the horrendous effect on wildlife. Think I need to add that to my poem.

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  7. Even back in the 60’s – when I was in the Navy, I remember a wildfire burning on the desert, right up to the gates of NAS Miramar. Hundreds of us stood on that fireline and denied the flames access.

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  9. I think you’ve captured the essence, the eeriness of the aftermath …. there is almost a hush, a reverence for what has swept through … and yet, the stubble, the bark and limbs do speak, hoarsely …. but still. Interesting poem …. and definitely has that “fire” aftermath feel to it …. clipped and stubbled … that’s a really great word for it.

    (and on another subject, glad that you’ve made a new “Frost” discovery – it is rather, a lovely poem 🙂

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    1. You’d think that everyone would want to do their part in saving the planet, wouldn’t you, especially after disasters, which we seem to be seeing more and more frequently. But some humans are just not bothered. We have to inundate them with our words.

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  18. There is something so sad about this landscape — your phrasing and sounds are so well done in creating that mood and tone. I am most affected by this line: “their dry voices whisper/in devastation’s backwind”.
    This whirlwind of charcoal and dust is blinding.

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  20. used and harnessed correctly fire does clear and cleanse. Maybe Mother Nature too knows when to do just that with those raging fires. I felt the soot and ash on my tongue just by reading your words

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  25. A sad day for those California greens. You personified them well. I like your tree picture find. I have been looking for a good Zombie tree picture, this one ties with one I took beside an old church. I need it for the “Z” letter coming up in another blog. BTW, some of our green trees have turned red after a recent early frost. That generally does not happen, first I’ve seen since leaving New England in the 60’s.
    ..

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  27. Your voice is calm under the devastation wrought by a wild fire. The sounds in this also snap and crack like a fire and the bursting trees and Ricks. I can smell this fire and I can gear the screams if the animals being consumed. Fires can cleanse but they also kill. Good work here Kim

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