Poem: Forty Years Without Fire

Forest unaware it sheds itself
Twig by twig, branch by branch
Gifting vestments to the dust

When dust settles upon car hoods
Rain packs it away to street gutters
As sustenance for the journey to sea

When sea waters beat our reflections
Into mirrors, shatter mirrors into glass,
metamorphoses into puzzle piece shards,

Into shards of glittering sand; then our faces
Become as fragmented as the beachhead.
Heat sponges up water, raptured into rain

When rain falls it animates the forest
Unto breathing, unto light, unto life:
When water dies, the forest survives.