Across the landscape seething
As a dragon breathing
The conflagration whirling
As smoke begins swirling
Long-needled brown duff
Provides incendiary stuff
To spread ore the floor
Consuming stems, leaves, and more
Incense billows to the sky
As ash and ember upward flies
Bringing death, destruction, and renewal
Creating a green menagerie jewel
Animals dig, soar, and scamper
Ahead of the fiery clamor
Sunflowers in smoke dance and sway
Soon sprouting new life after embers foray
Petals uplifted thus to praise
Basking in the sun’s pleasant rays
Dreading the approaching flame
But willing all the same
To endure the pyrogenic phase
Preparing new ground; more flowers for praise
Bluestem grasses will carry
The blazing torch to briefly tarry
As long as wind and combustibles permit
Smoke to emit and ash to soil submit
Bringing a photosynthetic renaissance
Reaching to the sky in response
The sparrow sings with glee
For new growth and seeds for me and thee
Poem by Robert Carter
After 20 years in academia as a forest ecologist, I now teach college part time and serve a naturalist with a museum. One of my areas of research was fire ecology. For years I published fire ecology research in scientific journals. Now I can focus on the rejuvenating aspects of fire as a natural cycle in nature.