California Wildfires | Teen Ink

California Wildfires

May 1, 2018
By oliviq SILVER, Belle Chasse, Louisiana
oliviq SILVER, Belle Chasse, Louisiana
5 articles 0 photos 1 comment

I eat away at life
My bright orange wings fly over a dry sea
Cutting down green like a knife
Ash surges and crashes on the California shore

I am not the strongest
Fifth in line but I rage over the land
My job is never finished, I need no rest
Run from me all you want but you can’t take your homes with you

Memories singed at the edges
The last picture you have of your grandmother erased
Her smile is faint in your mind but I get to keep it forever
The memories you cannot replace

Smoke smothers the blue in the sky
Black snow falls on the mountains
You drive past the inferno on the freeway
230,000 acres demolished… I win

Mother nature is fleeing from my grasp
A fireman runs towards me, wearing a brave face
Listen to her, this land is mine
I’m coming for you, A cat and mouse chase

Try and throw a tweet at me
I’m not getting any weaker
You might have me contained but I have not lost
Imagine what I can do next, I’m a hopeless dreamer

Hasn’t anyone told you not to play with fire?


The author's comments:

I decided to write my slam poem on the wildfire, Thomas, currently affecting Ventura and Santa Barbara, California. It is the fifth largest wildfire in California history. It has destroyed over 230,000 acres of land as of Monday, December 11. Over 700 structures destroyed. I thought it would be really interesting to write in the point of view of the wildfire itself.


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on May. 9 2018 at 8:46 pm
Ayoungpoet GOLD, Lexington, Kentucky
19 articles 0 photos 11 comments
this is awesome. I can't believe it didn't get published in the magazine.