Forest Fire

Red turns to blue
Turns to dark, shrouding view
As the cape descends to silence for a while
I watched the flame
Grow in might, grow in shape
'Til the forest fire consumed all that remained

And it's black tar in the sunlight
Pulls me to the sky and lets me go
It's a far sign in a field
A private road, a whip-poor-will
The light snow

Ash turns to sand
Turns to boy, turns to man
As we cut through Chéticamp a second time
Bound to the sea
To the coast, to the breeze
To the lines in palms and rings of old growth trees

And it's lovers from a past life
Strangers in the night that hold me close
It's a writer in the will
The ones we lose, the ones that kill and don't know
And it's bodies on the bay floor
The sediment and layers of limestone
It's a shipwreck on the rocks
The ocean stream and wooden docks
The far glow

Left turns to right
Turns to stay, turns to flight
Turns to atom bombs and once prophetic claims
I hitched a ride to the mainland to survive
Past the causeway's soft destruction in the tide

And it's violence in the grey light
Grabs me by the neck and won't let go
It's the dark side of the house
The room I cannot think about
And what's below
And it's black tar in the sunlight
Pulls me to the sky and lets me know
It's the embers in the snow
The open road, the trees that once again will grow