This is something which I wrote last summer during the period where several enormous wildfires were raging across the American West many in Colorado. One which could have gotten out of control but didn't, thanks to the best fireman in the area, was in the resort town of Estes Park just outside Rocky Mountain National Park. It's been my home for the past three summers.
The Fires will Subside
The fires burn,
Scorching the land to a crisp,
The smoke rises high above the trees,
It is so dry.
A dark cloud has come over the land,
But after the rain,
The fires will subside.
And a new beginning will be revealed,
It is not the end my friend,
It is not the end,
The rain will come,
The dark days will end…
The trees will return to the land once again,
The old trees rot, and return to the earth,
The new ones start to grow soon after,
The smoke will subside my friend.
Nothing lasts forever,
One day, once again the land will come alive,
The people will rebuild,
It will once again be the place it once was.
The fires will subside my friends.
-Nick Whittemore (June 26, 2012)
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