Sierra Glen

In eastern Tulare County, 

Four miles east

From the hamlet of Badger,

On Road 469, 

Whitaker Forest Road,

Is Sierra Glen.

Where hillsides are unadorned

But for the occasional

Live oak, pine, and redbud,

Roving willows, or cottonwoods.

Understories of vegetation,

Cleared of impenetrable brush:

Manzanita, buckbrush,

Toyon, poison oak, and deerweed

Were burned away years ago.

The duff blackened;

No bark, no dead leaves, 

No old wood on the ground.

Proof, fires set by Native people 

Produced open carpeted areas 

Of scattered grasses,

Wild oats, and foxtail fescue.

A Native variation on farming, 

Fire enhanced growth

Created higher-quality acorns,

A better crop with no worms.

In between the trees

In a fire-adapted chaparral,

A blaze kept the ground clear.

Game could be seen from afar. 

Making it harder for enemies 

To sneak up behind them.

Before the arrival of white men,

Fires burned uninterrupted. 

For miles, flames leaped and curled,

Increasing with great speed,

Leaving tree trunks fire-scarred. 

Everything burned and charred.

Today, a dense smoke plume 

From man-made wildfire

Burns beyond a nearby ridge,

Rises like an angry spirit.

Accumulated vegetation

Natives once burned.

About the poet

Stephen Barile is an award-winning poet, and was a long-time member of the Fresno Poet’s Association. He attended Fresno City College, Fresno Pacific University, and California State University, Fresno.  His poems may be found in numerous publications, both print and on-line. He taught writing at Madera College, and CSU Fresno.