After the Fire, After the Flood
(Note: Chapters 1 and 2 were written before the mudslide, Chapter 3 after.)
Chapter 1 (After the Fire I)
I drove by the enchanted forest
Seeing new scars and fallen trees from your wind
Entering the sacred grounds
The smell of ash still heavy in the air
Sense memory bringing back the fear of those weeks
Coming together in gratitude to express our thanks,
Our fears,
Our grief
All present to our sacred community
These sacred grounds,
Our sacred work
Your mists shrouded the scarred hills
As though to lead us more gently into the knowledge of them
Throughout the day,
The shroud grew
A mysterious and heavy mystical blanket
To protect us from our worst fears
At night, the mist, thick as smoke,
Was a visible reminder of all that happened here
All that was
And all that could have been
The orange glow of a light through the mist
Eerily reminiscent of fire
A deep breath
It’s not here now
Although I feel it with that intake of breath
Raw in my esophagus
Raw in my soul
Yet I walk side by side with my fellow journeyers
We are here
We are safe
We will heal
This is my prayer of gratitude
Chapter 2 (After the Fire II)
The mist still surrounds the enchanted forest
I take a second look at the trees
Newly fallen
It’s still beautiful
It’s still sacred
It’s still here
Gratitude
Once more I enter the sacred space
I smell the ash
Not so strong now
Not so harsh
My sense memories a bit diminished
I steel myself to gaze towards the hills
As the comforting mist has now lifted
The scarred hillsides starkly visible now
So close
So close
Breathe . . .
We are here
We are safe
We will heal
This is my prayer of gratitude
Chapter 3 – (After the Flood)
Oh my heart
Oh my soul
The news, such news
So many lives lost
So much devastation
Not safe, not yet
Not healed, not yet
This is the refrain I hear throughout the town
And still
These wounded warriors
Come forward
Once again to say
I’m with you, I hear you
You’re
Not safe, not yet
Not healed, not yet
Can we be?
They ask
We ask
I ask
We will be
We will be
We will be
This is my new prayer
My new hope
My only path
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