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Eyes of Fire
“Only with a leaf, can I talk of the forest.”
--Visar Zhiti.
Too often, it seems to me, here in the north/south--
west, we seem to experience more summer wild-
fires than the folks on the east coast. Perhaps we
pay little attention to their news, or don’t receive
the reporting--but the fact remains that our grand
and sprawling spacious forests always seem to be
a lightning rod for fiery episodes.
Hardy firefighting smoke jumpers are truly some of
our bravest souls. Watching recycled old military
planes & stout double ended helicopters dumping
tons of reservoir water & huge clouds of blood red
fire retardant on exploding valleys, foothills and
screaming mountain sides is both fascinating and
terrifying.
Trees are essential
to sustain life; we must safe-
guard our sweet forests.
Glenn Buttkus
Posted over at dVerse Poets Pub--Haibun
11 comments:
I love the quotation.
Yes, here in Boston, we read of the wildfires out your way. It does not seem to be on the East Coast -- you are right. My nephew once lived in the mountains in Colorado and had to evacuate because of fire. A year later when we were visiting, he took us up to his cabin. Standing amidst charred trees, burned out vehicles and other cabins on the road - only his was somehow spared although it was singed. Fires are so very destructive. I am amazed at the bravery, selflessness, and service mindeness that firefighters and first responders have.
Like you, we are surrounded by fires this year, as I guess I've already beaten to death. The hardships that those first responders deal with is truly striking and humbling when I stop to think of my constant complaining about the smoke. I hope things will settle now for us soon.
I have seen those wildfires only from the distant, with smoke and ashes in the sky ~ Indeed those are brave souls fighting against the wilfires ~ Yet, this is the cycle of the seasons and nature - from the ashes will come new life ~ Have a good week Glenn ~
A beautiful quote and we too have had more wild fires than usual this year with a lot of the heather burning too. We are so grateful for all those brave souls who do their best to fight the flames and save our trees.
A nice tribute to the many smoke jumpers who battle the wildfires. Their brave stories are legendary.
These are my favorite sections:
"blood red
fire retardant on exploding valleys, foothills and
screaming mountain sides"
"we must safe-
guard our sweet forests"
There are at least two others living out that way that have expressed the fear of wildfire tonight in the lounge. We be praying for rain for all of you! All the aspects of wildfire are terrifying. Hope rain sees you soon
Those fiery episodes sound terrifying and I hate to think of forests being destroyed. We are lucky, on this small island, not to have such intense summer heat and plenty of rain, which means that we most of our ancient forests remain intact.
There were some rogue fires down in the Cape in South Africa. One whole town were just about wiped out with thousands of people evacuated. Indeed, being more careful is the way to go. One becomes complacent.
I suspect rain is nature's way to bring in the helicopters with water and fire retardant. Then new growth can occur. Where I am there aren't as many forests to burn since it is mostly prairie and parks. The fires are all controlled burns to remove dry undergrowth which should prevent fires in the future.
Trees For Life...not just a bumper sticker.
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