Video runs 2:28.
Poem's opening quote is at end of clip.
Stuff
"We won't see these forests coming back in our lifetime,
or even in our grand-children's lifetimes."
And with the report our minds numbed more, nearly
as numb as charred hooves trodding hot embers.
We dulled from the sharpness of
these breaking news flashes,
nearly as breaking as the thunderous thumping
of trunks upon the earth they knew.
A rabbit stood thumping in defiance
near the cave where her young huddled
quivering, the cave where bats were
already dying from White-Nose Syndrome —
All of them now just gray ashes....bunnies,
bats, bears, bucks, birds, batches of berries,
biomass, biodiversity.
After losing their home in the orange-red fury
a family stood before cameras, numb and dulled.
The girl about ten, voice breaking, recalled
her room. "It had a TV, my computer, my
iPod touch, and my phone. I miss my stuff."
MLydiaM ~ July 2012
Written for Critique and Craft—What's the Buzz— at dVerse Poets. Chazinator's prompt this week inspires us to write a poem that creates or evokes modern life, in all of its reality. To accomplish this, you might: write a poem that describes the fractured nature if the modern world write a poem that incorporates newspaper clippings or other non-poetic material write a stream-of-consciousness poem transform unpoetic writing into poetry
More about White-Nose Syndrome at U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.
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12 comments:
What a sad scene of the effects of the forest fire ~ It does destroy our homes and those of the animals ~ A lost forest is a dismal reality ~
our little choke hold on the world...and we pretend as if all is well....i am sure by christmas she will have all she had and more...and a few more animals will die....really nice bringing our attitude to the forefront in this lydia...
These fires that bring destruction, tearing apart human and natural ecozones, seen and unseen terror. I know there's irony at the end, well said, yet the horror of the child is palpable, even in so few words, perhaps the worst part being that terror which we experience when we realize what attitudes and behavioral patterns give birth to such words. I do not know whether there's a way to inculcate into children a wider awareness of themselves in the world, as beings inhabiting place with other beings, a larger consciousness beyond self. One could hope, perhaps, that the pain of this experience might be the catalyst for such inner transformation.
Good piece! I empathize with the animals more than the child. Very tough on everyone....
Of course a young child will experience loss, first and foremost, in terms of 'their stuff'. I don't think one can conclude however that she is unaware of the greater loss as far as the larger environment is concerned. 3rd and 4th grade science curricula for a child this age includes such things as understanding scientific investigation, matter and energy, solar system and universe, living things and their environment. So, for now, I stand in her defense. She likely knows and understands more than what she tells you.
oh heck...she mourns what means most to her...sad...and i wonder where we are about to head..
Tragic.
This speaks volumes about our world. Fantastic write.
Heaven~ Yes, it is. :(
Brian~ I appreciate your comment. Lots.
Charles~ Such a beautiful comment, you philosopher. You expressed everything that welled up in me, and much better than I did! Thank you.
izzy~ Oh, I do too. The death and strained survival of the animals will go on to affect the child too in the future, at which time my empathy would be similar for both.
mythopolis~ Good point about what they are learning in school. The numbness I described certainly affected the child as well. And it didn't go unnoticed that she bravely spoke on behalf of her family in the best way she could at the moment.
Claudia~ Yes she does, and yes I do also. :(
Amber Lee~ :(
Mama Zen~ Thanks so much.
yes we are losing so much of our biomass. powerful poem
lucychili~ Thank you for your visit and comment.
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