POETRY

Before the Fire

Narrative poem

Photo by Yulia Ryding

Before the fire, there was the fire of neglect —
fire of the budget slashed by a pen,
fire of hydrants that failed when the pressure dropped,
fire of empty reservoirs
fire of droughts renamed exceptional, so no one had to act.

Before the fire, there was the fire of forgotten families.

Before the fire, there was the fire of development —
McMansions rising like ignitable altars,
private roads too narrow for rescue trucks,
gated driveways locked against their own undoing.

Before the fire, there was the fire of concrete poured
over deer trails, of eucalyptus planted where oaks once stood.
There was the fire of hollow warnings,
of alerts that came after the flames had already consumed our homes.

Before the fire, there was the fire of forgotten families.

Before the fire that took our homes,
there was the fire that took the land —
The Chumash, not displaced but incinerated in memory,
their stone circles bulldozed for cul-de-sacs.
Before…