*scroll down for YouTube video”
River mink babies
Peeking at me
Pedaling my Walmart bike
Down the Starkey trail
In pink and orange dawn
Does and fawns
Waiting to cross
As we whiz by
Windy freedom
Interrupted only
When the dreaded hill
Is reached
But finally breached
And legs pump pedals
While the Withlacoochee
Whispers nearby
Three more miles
Then water and rest
Among green scrub
Controlled campfires
Hot Florida dirt
Nature at her best
Not five miles from home
And now Starkey Park
In the drought
Over 2,000 acres burnt
50 percent contained
Echoing all the fire-themed music
And I hear
The Trammps sneer
At the fire
As they sing
“Burn that mother down”
And my tears fall
But there aren’t enough
To stop the raging…
© 2017 Clarissa Simmens (ViataMaja)
IMAGE: Starkey Park nature trail
YouTube video https://youtu.be/A_sY2rjxq6M The Trammps
