After the fire

I remember the first time I saw images of what the 1988 wildfire did to Yellowstone:

Blackened trunks of naked lodgepole pine jutting from scorched earth like broken bones piercing burnt flesh
A charred skeleton of a forest, a corpse of ashen grassland
Wildland turned wasteland, devoid of wildlife
Devastation on an ecological scale, beauty scarred beyond recognition

How ugly, I thought
How sad
So much life and magic reduced to cinders
It will never be the same again, I thought
It will be a scar in the heart of wilderness

I was wrong, of course
The forest needed only time

LEFT: BOB STEVENSON / NPS RIGHT: BRADLY J. BONER / NEWS&GUIDE

Time for dead ash to turn to fertile soil

LEFT: BOB STEVENSON / NPS RIGHT: BRADLY J. BONER / NEWS&GUIDE

Time for returning water to give its gift of life

LEFT: BOB STEVENSON / NPS RIGHT: BRADLY J. BONER / NEWS&GUIDE

Time for seedlings and sprouts to reach for the sun

LEFT: JIM PEACO / NPS RIGHT: BRADLY J. BONER / NEWS&GUIDE

Time for fauna to return to flora

LEFT: BOB STEVENSON / NPS RIGHT: BRADLY J. BONER / NEWS&GUIDE

Time to heal

The forests and meadows of Yellowstone today are not the same as those before the fire
Neither are they something entirely new
They are an adaptation
They are a continuation
They thrive again, and again they are beautiful

Join the Conversation

  1. An intriguing discussion is definitely worth comment.
    There’s no doubt that that you should wrire more on this issue,
    it ight not be a taboo subject but typically people don’t tapk
    about such subjects. To the next! Kindd regards!!

    1. I appreciate the encouragement ❤️

      This poem was an attempt to remind myself that I could heal and be whole again after a life-changing heartbreak. Right now, my heart is only just starting to see some green seedlings sprout from the ashes of that devastating fire, and I’m not sure that I have much more I can say about this experience at the moment. If I have more to share as the forest of my soul grows back, rest assured that you’ll find it here.

      Thank you for taking the time to read and comment on my writing 🫶🏼

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