FOREST FIRE

The fires raging in the Western Cape, reminded me of a day in August 1999 witnessing a forest fire.  In my days as a single mother, living in Natal, I often drove inland to the Valley of 1000 hills.  On one of these trips I stopped the car to take in the awe full destruction of a forest fire.  The air vibrated with energy and heat and I could hear the boiling sap of pine trees as they exploded.  The scene was incredibly powerful and it’s metaphors resonated within me.  I have lived through my own days of fire and the subsequent rebirth.

FOREST FIRE

I saw

A flood of flame

Living – leaping – igniting

Beautiful – breathtaking

destruction

The unstoppable power

Of wild-fire

I felt

the deadwood

of dry past

crackle within

The hot wind fanning

the trees to exquisite light

The wind of change combusting within

to release a greater might

Today the forest is

black and white

ash and charred silhouettes of

what was, standing stripped

in eerie

simplicity

Tonight

the rain falls

so, so soft

and in the air

I smell, green

Deep, deep within

sense stirrings of

Spring

23/8/99