\t\tOn Fire<\/p>\n
That careless hand
\n\t\t(manicured, fine long fingers)
\nlingers, then flicks \u2013
\nand the yellow straw grass lining
\nthe highway sighs before it sparks
\n\t\t(neither in the car look behind
\n\t\tthem \u2013 the road ahead leading to
\n\t\tparadise)
\nand the wind exhales its breath;
\ngiving life to a flame that rises
\non its haunches, crawls across the earth
\nand finds its prey \u2013
\nlicking the aspen trunks,
\nswallowing whole trees
\nas it jumps from one to another
\nin search of more<\/p>\n
\t\tand the fire rages<\/p>\n
across the land.
\nMother Earth\u2019s hand
\nin so many\u2026
\n\t\t(her heated breath,
\n\t\tspikes of angry light
\n\t\tshooting like fingers)
\npointing at the forest
\n\t\t(she doesn\u2019t look back \u2013
\n\t\tshe\u2019s always known
\n\t\tparadise)
\nand the wind exhales its breath,
\ncomplicit, as old growth forests
\nwith ancient trees, standing for
\ncenturies, now crumble into
\nash<\/p>\n
\t\tand the fire rages<\/p>\n
while a blue hand reaches
\nacross the sky, spreading its fingers
\nwide \u2013
\n (its canopy startling in its
\n beauty, startling in its danger:
\n no sign of paradise).
\nThe wind holds her breath \u2013
\nOmitted clouds for days and weeks,
\nWhile the sun and wind conspire<\/p>\n
\t\tand the fire rages<\/p>\n
even against oceans of water
\n (dumped at the hands of humans,
\n toiling with numb fingers and
\n tired arms to save
\n paradise)
\ninto forty nights the battle ensues,
\nwhile the wind brushes the skies
\n (over quiet lands with brilliant
\n hues of neon pink and blood
\n orange, death-red)
\nit is silent<\/p>\n
\t\tand the fire rages.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
On Fire That careless hand (manicured, fine long fingers) lingers, then flicks \u2013 and the yellow straw grass lining the highway sighs before it sparks (neither in the car look behind them \u2013 the road ahead leading to paradise) and the wind exhales its breath;…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1004,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"aside","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,441],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32433","post","type-post","status-publish","format-aside","hentry","category-half-marathon-poem","category-poetry-prompt-responses","post_format-post-format-aside"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32433","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1004"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32433"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32433\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32475,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32433\/revisions\/32475"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32433"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32433"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32433"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}