Fireweed, graminoids,
mushrooms and morels –
seed of a lodgepole pine.
Black-backed woodpeckers that nest
in the burned-out hollows.
Fire-following beetles and the
bats that follow them –
all waiting
for the lightning strike,
for the light
of a nascent flame.
Poem by Sally Quon.
Living on the traditional and unceded territory of the Syilx people in the Okanagan Valley, Sally Quon spends her time blogging her back-country adventures and reading poetry to the cat. She has been published in Chicken Soup for the Soul – The Forgiveness Fix and was a finalist for the 2020 Vallum Chapbook Award. She is an Associate Member of the League of Canadian Poets. Her bucket list is entirely about bears.