we taste the fire
from miles and miles away
grit between our teeth
Canadian fires
Marshall Fire
they are the same
a thousand homes lost
lives forever changed
I watched the homes
of my students burn
on the evening news
and wept
four days after the fire
we entered our school,
still standing,
and came together
amidst the shell shock
all this time later,
families are still rebuilding
each day I drive
through the burn zone
on my way to school and
see the devastation side-by-side
with hope rising
we taste the fire
from miles and miles away
grit between our teeth
Canadian fires
Marshall Fire
they are the same
Jennifer Gurney lives in Colorado where she teaches, paints, writes and hikes. Her poetry is widely published, two of her poems have won international contests and one was turned into a choral piece. Jennifer has three books of published poetry, My Eyes Adjusting (2024), Liquid Sky (2025) and Love’s Echolocation (2025).
