Forest Fire
by krstaten
Let’s say–just this once–that there was a forest
and a naïve child with a box of matches.
This child, he had fire in his hair and in his eyes
and in his hands now too and he truly believed
that he was Good. Let’s say–just this once–
that there was a forest and it was Good
except that the rain had stopped. And this boy
with eyes as blue as almost the ocean,
brought Dixie cups of water for the earth. All the ocean
in his eyes, with the fire that was deeper,
could not stop the wilting, so the boy, in desperation,
decided to enrich the soil with ashes.
We all learned in school that sometimes, a forest fire
is what makes the new forest strong, but we never learn
why. We should burn, but not to the root. We should let light in,
but never destroy the heart of the trees. The trees
need something from which to grow again. And this boy,
he had too many matches, too much fire
and not enough ocean in his eyes, and when his short-
sighted vision burned out, when his hunger for blackberries
grew taller than the trees, he burned the forest down
in hopes the blackberry bushes would grow stronger.
But the heart of the trees burned, too, and the sun then shone
freely on only dirt and ash and shriveled berries.
Best of intentions…well said!
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Thank you for your comment! I appreciate the positive feedback.
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Wow, this is something I’ve thought about…the balance of the forest. I enjoyed your almost folktale-like structure here.
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I’m glad you liked it! This is actually more structured than I usually write, which is odd to say considering how loose the structure is in the first place in this poem.
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