National Poetry Month Day Seven

Prompt:  Write a poem that explores beauty, love, joy in painful, tragic or sad time.  Allow the reader to experience these opposite feelings by juxtaposing beautiful images with less pleasing ones.  For example: falling in love during a hurricane, giving birth after being evicted.  Or write in first person that is inspirational to you in a not-so-perfect world.

Hell in Montana

A mushroom cloud

Appeared on the horizon

And stayed there

All summer.

Yellowstone burned.

Miles of forest

Seared, torched, charcoaled.

Armies with axes

An air force of bombers

Struggled against

The forces of nature

Advanced, retreated,

But stood their ground

At the Old Faithful Inn.

September 9, 1988

Seven stories of history

Faced a wall of flame.

With sprinklers and hoses

They drenched the roof

Choppers dropped slurry

The firestorm roared.

By late afternoon

The inferno moved on

The largest log structure

Stood, flags flying

In the clearing smoke,

Thanks to brave people
Who faced down the blaze.