I Have Seen Too Much

I have seen too much death
in my few years.

I have known loss, and I have known fear.

Did you know?

The fire of 1926 
swallowed our forest,
leaving nothing but
burnt black
redwood husks.

but those husks survived:
green shoots exploding from
fallen black bodies. All made new
by the healing rains that
followed.

Did you know?

Jack pine, sequoia,
fireweed, morels;
all require fire to survive,
to reproduce, to blossom.

I have seen too much death
in my few years — — -

I have seen too much death to
fear.