It started with a single spark
a strike of flint
igniting the kindling
to heat the air
and hold back the dark of night.
It was a gift of the gods
the first sacred fire
and as we gathered around
the glowing embers
our eyes were wide with wonder
and our hearts rose with the flames.
From that moment on
fire was our constant companion
cooking our food
tempering our tools
keeping vigil through the night
until the return of the light.
At first, our fires were small
and our tools were simple
but as time went on
the flames rose higher
the coals burned hotter
the fire got bigger and bigger
fueling the furnaces
that forged the weapons of war.
It started with swords and shields
bronze chariots and iron battlements
but the fire was hungry
and the men who tended it
were hungrier
devouring towns and cities
consuming whole nations
in the crackling of the fire
and the slashing of the blades
forged in the heat of the flame.
But this was only the beginning.
Soon, a new age dawned
an age of industry
where the heat of the flame
was channeled as never before.
In the heart of the foundry
the blazing of a hundred fires
was contained and sustained
granting us the power
to forge raw ore into steel
and power the engines
of mass production.
The first explosion
was an explosion of industry
millions of farmers
flocking to the cities
to make a living
burning the coal
that fueled the foundry
and powered the machines.
The world burst into flames
expanding flames of empire
devouring the last indigenous nations
exploding flames of revolution
rising with the wage workers
in defiance of the men of money
who would turn other men
and women
into machines.
After the metaphorical explosions
came the literal ones.
The internal combustion engine
took the power of fire
to a whole new level
unleashing an explosion of flames
trapped in steel cages
to power pistons
to fuel the engines of industry
and carry our people
across land and sea and sky
at incredible speeds.
Enormous new buildings arose
power plants the size of an entire town
turning fire into electricity
and countless towers of shimmering steel
stretching skyward
like an army of swords
stabbing at the heavens.
Steel carriages
with rigid frames
mined from the bones of the Earth
screamed across the face of the world
powered by a million hungry explosions
consuming a viscus black oil
sucked from the marrow of the Earth.
The sacred flame
that showed us the light
and kept us warm through winter’s night
has burned beyond the boundaries of sanity
exploding across the face of the world
in a mad conflagration
that chokes the air with noxious fumes
and fills the lands and waters of the world
with a ferocious and feverish churning.
Sudden storms
are tearing whole cities apart
crashing through brick and steel and glass
like a burst of wind
shattering a house of cards.
Turbulent oceans
are rising along the world’s shores
lapping at the bases
of grass huts and steel towers
tasting our cities with their salty tongues
hungry for the day when the waters will rise
to devour entire nations.
Even if we stop the madness today
turn off every engine
shut down every coal plant
burn not another drop of oil
our children’s children
will still feel the heat
of our feverish burning.
But if we do nothing
if we let the land
be consumed by a raging inferno
fueled by billions of explosions
and countless mountains of coal
then the wheel of the year
will snap free of its axle
and life as we know it
will crash and burn.
The world is on fire
but fire isn’t the problem.
Fire is the solution.
We are a people of fire
but in our feverish delirium
we have forgotten
that fire is sacred
a gift of the gods
a campfire and hearthfire
where we gather
to share our lives
to share our stories
to tend the warmth and the light
that guides us through the cold and dark
of winter’s longest night.
So let the heat of this fire
the fire of community
set our hearts and minds ablaze
as we make our stand
against the fires of destruction.
Let the heat of our passion
and the warmth of our touch
and the light of our words
and the might of our power of invention
serve as a controlled burn
that blazes in the path
of a raging inferno
protecting the community of life
from further harm.
The fossil fuel inferno
is a ferocious conflagration
consuming the living flesh of our world
but if we reclaim the flame
in the name of life
in the name of freedom
in the name of our inner passions
in the name of our living communities
we will rise to the challenge
and the fires of destruction
will be quenched
and the only flame
that will remain
is the steady flame
of life in balance.