Wildfire Poem by Chris Embrick

I've hiked alone the forest deep
Rappelled terrain, treacherous steep
Slept beneath the Northern Lights
For weeks on end no one in sight
But now the earth trembling, shaking
Caused me to wake up with a start
In my ears the aspens quaking
And the pounding of my heart.

Startled too the woodland birds
The stampeding elk, a frightened herd
Panicked by the smell of smoke
And towering flames the wildfire stoked
The Pinyon pines, exploding trees
The smoke trapped by the canyon walls
For a breath down on my knees
No one near to hear my calls.

Plunging into the icy river
My only hope, nothing left
To stay is to burn alive
This time no more cheating death
Hell's inferno at my heels
Now, my only hope to swim
My body exhausted, weak
The odds of my survival slim.

The way behind me scorching timber
Ahead the rocks and river tumbling
The final sound that I remember
Was the waters roar and rumbling.
The hunters found my body twisted
Cut and bruised by the drop
Had they not been fishing below the falls
It would be miles before I stopped.

Never succumb to fear and death
On the trail, the hiker's creed
No matter how many times I fail
I'll be back to take the lead
Concrete valleys, high steel towers
Are a world I never miss
The greatest adventures of my life
Were hiking in the wilderness.