The Jasper Fire

Spanish Springs area, Northern Nevada, July 13, 2019…

Light shift, yellow, orange,
Darkening the already dark
Rooms behind the curtains.
Effects noticeable and now.
Wild land fire, burning hill

South, moving northbound.
So much dense gray smoke
And very little information.
Voluntary evacuations, the
Services moving neighbor

To neighbor, door by door
Those red globes flinging
Air support overhead and
Droning, ever droning up
Then down, then up again

Thick slurry drops, target
Attack and hand crews on
The lines, until nothing is
Seen but blue, clear skies,
Blackened hills, scorched.

Singed coyote trots away,
In search of another home
While ours remain saved
From another man-made.
To the victor go the spoil.