by Susan Delaney Spear
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| Aboard a Colorado National Guard helicopter, Gov. Jared Polis on Friday, Dec. 31, 2021, gets a flyover tour of Boulder County neighborhoods destroyed by wildfires the previous day. He was accompanied by Brig. Gen. Laura Clellan, Adjutant General of Colorado, and Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle. Colorado U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet and Rep. Joe Neguse also toured the area in a separate helicopter. (POOL: Hart Van Den Burg, CPR) —The Colorado Sun, January 1, 2022 |
Drop into this darkness.
A first-born charcoal sky
and fire-scorched land
smolder yet remain.
Today the sun’s detained.
A sparrow pecks
a pile of ashen snow
for sustenance.
.
Drop into this darkness.
Dig deep.
Light the wick within.
Let this year begin.
Susan Delaney Spear is an Associate Professor of English at Colorado Christian University in Lakewood. Her poetry collection Beyond All Bearing was published by Wipf & Stock in 2018.