Caitlin Daugherty “Guts” (poem

The Fire

Kayla Hein

Everyone has a place. A place that is comforting and familiar. My place is by the fire. The landscape is nothing but dots of ponderosa pines and salt cedars. There is no other humanity to be found other than my close friends. Fire crackles and hisses in the wind. The warmth can make even the coldest of nights seem warm. A gentle breeze stirs the embers making them turn to a bright red.

The only sounds are those of my friends murmuring softly to each other. Then suddenly the hush is interrupted by the sound of sudden drunken laughter. No one knows exactly what is so funny, but everyone joins in. It is calm and peaceful.

Out in the distance, thunder rumbles its deep throated moan. We know that trouble is coming. The peace will not last for much longer. The gentle breeze becomes a harsh scream. It ruffles the long-overgrown grass with a ghostly gasp. The fire crackles and hisses in protest. Then, the first drop.

It does not rain much around the fire, but tonight there is a thundering sound. The sound of a waterfall. It is coming straight for us. The hail and the rain pelt the landscape. What was dry instantly turns to mud and mush. The landscape changes in a second. Desert rain is nothing to be messed with. They can make even the most macho man run for cover.

The pines drip water as if they were crying. Rocks turn shiny and slick. The tall unmown grass hugs the ground as if in fright. The once-hissing fire is now no more than a puddle. Logs that a moment earlier burned bright now looked like fish fighting for their lives.

The soot that had sustained them now drowned them. It was as if the water had taken the very life out of all of the scenery.

Every drop of rain had changed the landscape. Everything seemed so very unfamiliar to us all now. Calm settled in after the frightful event. A lone deer appeared in the distance. It was surrounded by the soaking wet ponderosa pines. It was exceedingly difficult to see at first. It was as if another ponderosa pine had sprouted out of thin air and grown before our eyes. Everything was suddenly a wonder. We looked up and the tall thunderheads parted to reveal a beautiful sunset. It was a dazzling display of reds and pinks. It was as if the

Spring 2022

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