I created this poem after a particularly tough fire season when we lived up in Northern California.  Some of our favorite  places, Napa, Sonoma all damaged, lives lost, wineries and houses completely gone.  It was a very sad time, but things get better, renewal will happen, what doesn’t defeat us makes us stronger eventually.

A lovely
evening in the
wine country.
A wind stirs
up from the East
and then just as
quickly from the
West as well.
A few glowing
sparks-
who knows what
stirred them up.
But what follows
is heart break and
fear.  People leaving
this earth covered
in smoke and ash,
running for their
lives, hiding in pools,
vacationers in a nightmare.
So sad, even 40 miles
away our cars were covered
in ash.
One of the most destructive
fires ever, 8900 homes,
44 people and hundreds of
animals gone.
So much smoke
that it makes,
it an effort
to breathe, even 40 miles
away it clings to
my lungs,
almost a China smog
look to the air.
The sunsets are more colorful
but have a darkness and
sadness to them.  As I look
at the beautiful sunset,
It reminds me of the lives
up in smoke, people’s
homes, memories,
photos and keepsakes,
inherited items from
long ago relatives
all gone. Consumed
quickly and permanently.
I am tremendously
sad,  a bit selfishly
too as Napa is one of my
favorite places to visit.
I will watch
for green
starts of plants
to arise from the ashes-
it always comes back.
Still I am heartbroken.

Jewel Roberts 10-17-2017