How can we start to say "goodbye"
It's too godawful to believe
One merciless inferno
ceded far too much to grieve
When can we start to say "goodbye"
Each day's haze, too thick to clear
Death threats invade the nightly sleep
We're paralyzed by fear
Where do we start to say "goodbye"
Sans your crisp, brisk pine air
One more slice of Black Bear pie
A final ounce of your down-home care
To whom do we start to say "goodbye"
Endearing senior pairings
married fifty years or more
like the ones that owned and nurtured my favorite antique store (Treasures of Paradise)
Or the banjo picking cow folk,
the flag-flailing Trumpeteers
The man who saved his neighbors' homes, asking only for some beers
To the men resembling Santa
if Santa dropped one hundred pounds
The teens labeled "disabled"
who beat me in every Skip-Bo round
But if we start with children
How can we best explain
Their rooms and schools, all burnt to ash
Not one swing-set remains
Their rooms and schools, all burnt to ash
Not one swing-set remains
FACTS ABOUT THE CAMP FIRE:
It lasted from 11/8 to 11/25/18.
It incinerated an area the size of Chicago.
153,335 acres burned
13,972 single-family homes
18,793 structures
85 identified deaths
296+ unaccounted for; may likely never be identified
52,000 people displaced
over 90% of Paradise is no longer
over 90% of Paradise is no longer
first photo: me in front of Coco Amatrice, 2011
This one "goodbye"
spans miles beyond
the passing of a friend
How can we start to say "goodbye"
when "goodbye" has no end?
