A poem by Rachel Lanman
When the forest burns, so does it’s mysteries. The cool dark places where deer hide, now too hot and exposed. The smell of sweet pine replaced with the acrid scent of rot and ash. It gets stuck in your nose and lungs. Green to black, life to death.
When 500,000 acres burns, it’s not just death, it’s annihilation. With whole generations of bear, deer and birds unable to escape, succumbing to smoke and heat. A collective and final exhalation of breath. Sound to silence, life to death.
More than a tragedy of nature, this is ecocide. An outcome fueled by greed. The first people of this land warned us. Soot in my lungs, blood on my hands.
Who killed the earth? The black bear, clutching her children as she runs from her home? The ancient cedar, succumbing to fire? The bird, whose song is missing from the blackened forest?
Who killed the earth?
It is our children and their children who inherit this calamity. Futures stolen, mysteries burned.
Beautiful 🌲
❤️❤️ hi guys
its good to have you two writing again
Very happy to read your new posts and hear your news after your writing break, I’ve been enjoying your adventures and reflections for some time and wishing you all the best from here in very wet England.
Thank you Mack, thanks for reading it.
Thank you for the poem. Thank you for your posts. I hope you are able to keep them coming. Look forward to every one.
Thank you for reading it ❤️
Beautiful and heart breaking. Thank you for sharing this 💛
Thank you for reading it 💜
Yippee, your back. Kinda love the poem, it makes me very sad but so well put. John wesley Powell when he explored the Colorado river said that there was not enough water for large cities. Now we have Phoenix, Vegas, LA using that water. We seem to never learn or even listen. Thank you for listening and sharing your thoughts!
Your perspective of having walked through the destruction of burned forests is chilling. After reading this I had a nightmare. I was watching cars on I-5through downtown Seattle from a window inside a condo above. The cars were all close together and going super fast, not slowing down for anyone or anything. Soon the cars were piled up but still coming like a flood or a lava flow, and people on foot or bicycles and motorcycles were getting crushed but the cars wouldn’t stop so everything was getting drug along on a path of destruction. I was screaming “noooo stop!” And it was horrifying, but the cars were going too fast and couldn’t stop. Pretty dark stuff! Alrighty have a great day everyone!
Your dream is actually an excellent analogy for climate change.
Did you finish the PCT?
We did! Reached the northern terminus on September 13th. Cactus is currently working on a book of our adventures!
Sorry, very disappointed that there are no more posts on your trail blog. Not that there are no entries but no explanation as to the disappearance. It was something I looked forward to reading everyday.
Thank you so much for your beautiful yet emotional words……coming from someone that owns a home in Meyers and that area had to evacuate from the Caldor Fire your words are so very true to me….my worries are with all the beautiful wild animals these fries are affecting…..may they all find a safe refuge from them.
Thank you also so very much for your videos of your PCT adventure….I have been watching all of them,,,I am hoping you both made it to Canada or are close..I miss seeing your videos…Take care and thank you again
Hoping you all made it safely, it’s been a while since any updates!
We did! We will be updating the blog in the coming weeks with the parts we havent shared yet.
Congratulations! Am looking forward to your updates and am so happy for you two… You’re quest and being part of it through the journal has been inspiring. Thank you and Great Job!
You don’t know me and I’m just a lurker. I work at a desk here in Oregon and dream of hiking all year long, which I get to do all too rarely. I greatly enjoyed reading your blogs and seeing the videos. It brought some moments of magic to my day. Thank you!