The night falls
More quickly these days
In silence,
Draped in a choking haze

Outside, an owl
Screeches my name,
What is he saying?
What does he claim?

That I took the stars
And blackened the sky,
Says the moon doesn’t shine
And he wants to know why

Hear his cry,
Ear splitting, so unnerved
Surely this raptor
Is somewhat perturbed

Still I cannot see,
What he sees, in the dark
An ebony field,
Laid barren and stark

From the one thing
That has forsaken his land
The strike of a match,
By a human hand

He has lost his home,
His place to hide
His family, no longer
By his side

Taken down in a hail
Of smoke and flame
The owl, he weeps,
And I am to blame…

Author’s Note: Seven new large fires were reported 11/5/2020, three in Idaho, two in Kansas, and one each in Minnesota and Montana. Nationally, 36 large fires have burned 2.8 million acres. (source: National Interagency Fire Center).  Before you flick that lit cigarette, or leave a campfire unattended and burning, think about how many lives you could be destroying, both wild and human.

©2020 Dorinda Duclos All Rights Reserved
Image by Jean van der Meulen from Pixabay
Image by Ylvers from Pixabay
Combined by me