We have been evacuated from our home in Williams Lake only to find another one here. We have been most grateful guests. These are the emotions we have felt in and around us. We thank you very much.
Elemental
My vision reflects the snap of the whip
Its end cracks down upon the backs of many
Not enough water to carry me to sip
To quench a thirst not of mine own making.
Rot dried crusty under my sole foot burns
Through thin soil, sears my strike against it
Try as I might to rid the world of it
Hot winds stripe to move on to dire straits
Of rivers and lakes, they bend and throw me.
Unnatural force come to bear affront
Even as successes seem smokey clear
I can crush bone to ash and bitter fume
Choke back so fearfully the acrid taint
Of indifference history has wrought
With forks sharp to sheet skies dark in blackness.
Sound tumbles from the mow of violence
With mouth agape, they see the deathly blow
The scene changes, a mirror to our own
Compare to small creatures who toil in dirt
Pretty inventions see mighty hard work.
From the dust we breathe, we are of this ground
Not an ethereal close of bright webs,
Bombs of steam washes wave after wave,
Up to the billowed walls, steel arms trowel.
When the spark dims in the other's eyes blue
To watch snows blanket keep its promise too
Her regard changes from blue into green
To fighters and friends, the best I have seen.
Gregg Pritchard,
Williams Lake
