Even in this rain,
the forest is on fire
with their bright faces.
Yellow at center a match
to pink flames, now
licking at my doubts, promising
to burn them downstream,
small ashes to mix with black earth
and the lightening sea.
Marybeth Holleman is author of The Heart of the Sound and Among Wolves, and co-editor of Crosscurrents North, among others. Her poetry collection, tender gravity, is forthcoming from Red Hen Press. Pushcart-prize nominee and finalist for the Siskiyou Prize, she’s published in venues including Orion, Christian Science Monitor, Sierra, Deep Wild Journal, Literary Mama, ISLE/OUP, North American Review, AQR, zoomorphic, Minding Nature, The Guardian, The Future of Nature, and on NPR. Raised in North Carolina’s Smokies, Marybeth transplanted to Alaska's Chugach Mountains after falling head over heels for Prince William Sound just two years before the Exxon Valdez oil spill. www.marybethholleman.com
Featured image courtesy Marybeth Holleman
