{"id":529,"date":"2018-12-17T18:20:17","date_gmt":"2018-12-17T18:20:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/noellesickels.com\/wp\/?p=529"},"modified":"2018-12-17T18:27:42","modified_gmt":"2018-12-17T18:27:42","slug":"poem-of-the-month-fire-and-water-by-karen-hesli","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/noellesickels.com\/wp\/?p=529","title":{"rendered":"Poem of the Month: Fire and Water by Karen Hesli"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Dear Kate
\n<\/span>it’s been over two weeks since the ordeal
\n<\/span>and barely a meal
\n<\/span>has been et
\n<\/span>without wondering what’s next?<\/span><\/p>\n

The adrenalin courses through the blood
\n<\/span>scattering thoughts like mud.
\n<\/span>In mid sentence something may interfere —
\n<\/span>an urgency from nowhere appears —
\n<\/span>like tools and bits left on the ground,
\n<\/span>ashes swirling all around.<\/span><\/p>\n

Perhaps later,\u00a0the sentence, incomplete,
\n<\/span>will return, like a found sock under the seat.
\n<\/span>And sometimes by the river\u00a0when very still
\n<\/span>the birds come close\u2026we feel the thrill
\n<\/span>of their chirp, their song so reassuring —
\n<\/span>oh\u2026the simple comfort of birding!
\n<\/span>For that moment the world is set aright
\n<\/span>from the hold of that fiery night.<\/span><\/p>\n

When walls held flames and heat
\n<\/span>the canyon oven baked itself so deep
\n<\/span>as if from ice, boulders cracked in half
\n<\/span>howling dragons zigzagging a path.<\/span><\/p>\n

The burning and churning of her power
\n<\/span>improved the prospect of new wild flowers
\n<\/span>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 “up from ashes” they say\u2026
\n<\/span>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 …mystery does not weigh
\n<\/span>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u2026just comes to play, any day
\n<\/span>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 just comes to play, any day.<\/span><\/p>\n

For as sure as the mountains have from fire sprung
\n<\/span>as sure as the meadow is lit by the sun
\n<\/span>as sure as the sandbags now filling our cart
\n<\/span>we love you dear fire, deep in our heart.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Then flash flood rose quickly,
\n<\/span>and the body rash so prickly!
\n<\/span>tears flowing unannounced
\n<\/span>when friends pronounce
\n<\/span>their glad tidings we survived,
\n<\/span>Yes, it\u2019s good to be alive!<\/span><\/p>\n

Oh, the barren burned earth
\n<\/span>will not freeze in fear\u2019s rebirth.
\n<\/span>Fire delivers beyond desire\u2026
\n<\/span>a warmed-up, rekindled wonder of life
\n<\/span>…on the edge of the river canyon knife.<\/span><\/p>\n

So back atcha, Kate — with tinsel and snow
\n<\/span>we hike in the ash now where trees used to grow!
\n<\/span>Here’s to the light of Christmas shining through—
\n<\/span>our smoky skies used to be blue!
\n<\/span>Canyons and crannies we have never seen
\n<\/span>no longer covered by chaparral\u2019s green.
\n<\/span>The moonscape — charred and grayer
\n<\/span>Once hidden boulders become altars for prayer<\/span><\/p>\n

Recovering now from stress and the smoke
\n<\/span>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 poor Tully seems a bit worried ’bout his folk…<\/span>
\n<\/span>having danced and shaken hands with the fire god,
\n<\/span>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 now they\u2019re forgetting to feed their dog!<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Karen Hesli has been a lifelong educator, including being a teacher and Head at Oak Grove School in Ojai, California.\u00a0 <\/span>She enjoys \u201ccatching a poem when it comes through\u201d and accompanying her grandson Felix on hiking adventures.\u00a0 <\/span>Her current grappling\/pondering includes: how to live in this world, and what do teachers need to do right by their students?\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

          Dear Kate it’s been over two weeks since the ordeal and barely a meal has […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"Layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["entry","author-noellesickelswp","post-529","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-allposts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/noellesickels.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/529","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/noellesickels.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/noellesickels.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noellesickels.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noellesickels.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=529"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/noellesickels.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/529\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":536,"href":"https:\/\/noellesickels.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/529\/revisions\/536"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/noellesickels.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=529"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noellesickels.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=529"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noellesickels.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=529"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}