Water Earth & Air
Oct 5, 2021
The birch tree bark
Burns hot and fast.
A momentary conflagration.
I wonder at its place
In the forest's system
Of self-protection and if
Climate change will
Alter its inflection.
Will what was once a gift
Become a curse
On this drying earth?
I will not be here to witness
That future but you,
who are part of me, will be.
So I light my fire
And offer with it a prayer:
May this fire carry
The memory of water
And earth, moss and leafy green,
Humus and humor, and all
The lively things.
Forgive the human beings,
And nurture all that is fair.
For the future holds the promise
Of water, earth and air. Fire
Will deliver her:
Naked, bold and rare.
Gwir Huddleston Llewellyn
October 2021