“FIRE” by Claire Boskin
a fellow traveler in my writing circle
with family in California
claireboskin11@gmail.com
designer, facilitator of issue-focused study groups, all ’round mensch
FIRE
fire rages
once again
now history making
fire rages
orange, yellow, red sky
black dense smoke
veils the air
eyes witness war zone
hell on steroids
california ablaze
unreal
surreal
too real
california fires on the sweep
fear
unrelenting
taste on the tongue
knot in the chest
grip in the gut
neighbor’s house
hollowed
collapsing
a whole city
razed to rubble
stay reasoned
court calm
decisions to make
actions to take
children to calm
comfort, assure
touch, hug, kiss
Evacuate now
official,
devastation declared
choose, pack
what to take
what to leave
clothes, toys,
papers, photos
memories
dogs, cats
horses to
set free
crisis self
survival self
full grown
let loose
evacuate now
a life stripped down
to fit a car
maybe two
evacuate, escape
a friend’s place
a relative’s place
a strange place
anywhere but this place
california fire in your face
evacuate now
flames hungry,
skip, lick
defy control
engine revved
foot on pedal
seat belts bolted
will i ever see home again
move over world
we live among you
fire rages
california horrific
on a big screen
dedicate to my beloveds,
to all everywhere
who know this
and may again, and again
Thanks to both of you for sharing this… It’s so hard to hear people deny climate change when faced with this.
The intensity & terror is well captured in this.
Yes. Claire’s use of repetition and rhyme plus her sensitivity to others really work a bit of magic here.
Thank you both so much for these words. The moment by moment move through an emotional and practical response to the impending flames places me squarely there, able to imagine what so many have lived through. Again, thank you. xo
Praying for you and your family and others!
praying for rain to douse the fires
Yes. Rain and recovery.
Remember though, with rains may come floods or mudslides 🙁
oh gosh, how heart wrenching:
Fitting belongings into a car ~ what to take ~ what to leave?
Having to set free the horses ~ not knowing if they will survive?
Home ~ will it survive?
Escape ~ Where to go? this made me think of being a refugee in one’s own country
So many unanswered questions.
Wishing everyone caught up in this disaster all the very best.
Yes. So much worry. So much left behind or destroyed. And so many people missing!
I am from CA, we used to worry about the state “falling into the ocean” after the Big One. Then living in the mountains, the Sierras, we worried about fire in the forest with every thunderstorm. It happened once. 7 months pregnant, I woke from my nap, the mountain side above me was on fire. I pulled the laundry off the line, packed the whole basket in the car with the other 2 children. My son had grabbed the photo albums. He was 7. We made it up the road to a safe place. The fire was put out, no harm to any. But the land wasn’t parched….yet. The wind wasn’t blowing.
Daily I check the sites and check on Grace. I am obsessed.
Touching poem. Glad I stopped by.