I wrote this poem in summer of 2012 when wildfire was consuming vast swaths of Colorado. I submitted it to the Denver Post for publication, surprised to hear from them that “though we never publish poetry, your piece would be a great companion to another we received.” When I opened the Sunday paper on July 8, 2012, there was my poem alongside that of the then-Colorado poet laureate, David Mason.

An incessant sun burns bright for days on end,

sucking every last drop of moisture from an already parched land.

Red sky in morning, cowboys take warning. . .

Fires rage against deceivingly blue western skies

Turbulent winds fueling contentious fire

Reducing livelihoods, homesteads and habitats to ashes

Sparing nothing in its path

Family photos obliterated except from memory

Lifelong possessions gone in a flash

—something old, something new

—something borrowed, something blue

Promises broken, stories unspoken

When man pits against nature, nature always wins

The quarter moon just a mirage of tranquility.