Pine needles
Pine cones
Pine floorboards and beds,
Pining for a lover can make you lose your head.

Pine tar for turpentine,
Pine nuts to chew,
Pining for years long gone,
And a tango prance for two.

Pine woods deep and long,
Crisp kindling underfoot,
The compost here is lush and dark,
And bright insects crawl the root.

A drizzling breeze through pines is calming,
With rain clouds moist and full.
Yet headwinds of grey-orange smoke,
Make nineteen men the toll.

For when the pines are exploding,
And the Yarnell fire burns through,
Who but the stones will be here mourning,
A green love so fresh and true?

THE GRANITE MOUNTAIN HOT SHOTS

They are willing to sacrifice their lives for others
Each one having worried mothers, fathers and lovers
They all know the risks that come with their jobs
Yet, go out anyway to protect the country’s mobs

It was said a lightning strike started the fire
So said the call that came across the wire
Yarnell was where the Hot Shots were called to go
The fire was building strength-come on let’s go

All twenty of the men raced to the scene of the fire
Not giving it a second thought-the fire looked dire
One man would stay behind and watch their backs
So the other nineteen men could begin their attack

They fought the fire the best they could
There was a sudden wind change-that’s no good
They scrambled about to get to safer ground
Away from the fire’s center they were bound

They didn’t make it out of the fire-that we know
It came at them so fast they had nowhere to go
They all died that day doing what they do best
Protecting lives of others, so minds could be at rest

Prescott lost nineteen heroes on that dreadful day
Memorials were built where roses would lay
Honoring the lives of the Granite Mountain Hot Shots was Prescott’s way
Never to forget the nineteen heroes lost to Heaven on that fire laden day!