Pyrocumulus
Fumes drift in withering curls across the landscape
soaking fog and clouds with foreshadowing fingers
The flames are far,
but the scent of destruction is nigh
for the smoke has suffused into a cinderblock sky
The snow drifts, pale and flaked
Old skin off everything
Toxic plasters, tree bark, animal matter
All mixed into the pallid ash
Briefly, it lingers on the soil
before assimilating
Briefly, life is drained from the scorched path
but, new seedlings and sprouts soon shimmy their way to sunshine
and sparrows dig at their roots, safe for now
The deer wander into the burn to forage on new foliage
and the hawks wheel in the sky
seeking out prey re-emerging from their hiding places
Novel life seeps back, as resilient as before.
soaking fog and clouds with foreshadowing fingers
The flames are far,
but the scent of destruction is nigh
for the smoke has suffused into a cinderblock sky
The snow drifts, pale and flaked
Old skin off everything
Toxic plasters, tree bark, animal matter
All mixed into the pallid ash
Briefly, it lingers on the soil
before assimilating
Briefly, life is drained from the scorched path
but, new seedlings and sprouts soon shimmy their way to sunshine
and sparrows dig at their roots, safe for now
The deer wander into the burn to forage on new foliage
and the hawks wheel in the sky
seeking out prey re-emerging from their hiding places
Novel life seeps back, as resilient as before.
Sierra Glassman has had a passion for animals her entire life. She plans to study their behavior in university.