Incombustible - July 15 2026

 

Incombustible

July 15 2026



The thing about fire

is that it feeds off itself;

releasing heat

and hungry for fuel

it spreads unstoppably.

Fire begets fire

then eats its young.

A type of contagion I know well.

As do we all,

social animals 

desperate to belong

and determined to fit in.

Even unconsciously.

How bad ideas and frothy fads

spontaneously combust,

blazing through the culture

until they burn themselves out.

How blood and soil populists

proclaiming us vs them

sweep the culture like firestorms,

the force of grievance

conformity

and validation

as empowering

as a hot dry wind. 

As if we were tinder 

when the seasonal rains never came

But some have fireproofed themselves.

They’re either oblivious

or uncommonly self-assured.

Perhaps smug contrarians

and fierce individualists

who cherish the conceit

they think for themselves.

While the most incombustible

have acquired wisdom,

having seen fads come and go,

felt embarrassed, looking back

at the fashions they once wore

and thought looked good. 

Or watched with alarm

the feverish crowds

saluting at Nuremberg

rampaging on Krystallnacht.

The real mystery is

who dropped the match

added the accelerant?

Who was first to catch,

ignited by the ash

falling from the sky,

hypnotized 

by its red hot allure?

Forgetting

that fire lays waste,

razing the land and scorching the soil,

leaving blackened stumps smouldering

and burned bodies

caught breathless

in the smoke-filled air.

 

Just as fire destroys

social contagion can kill.

So only hope

that as fire renews the soil

opens to light

and reinvigorates the forest 

wisdom also grows.

That we all become contrarians;

tall trees

high above the canopy

with thick bark and verdant leaves

resistant to fire.

It’s fire season. Which these days is pretty much all year! Forest fires are close, there’s smoke in the air. I live in the urban/wildlands interface, so am acutely aware of fire and feel under a constant low grade stress.

Of course, boreal forest is meant to burn: fire ultimately renews and strengthens it. Unfortunately, here it’s past due and over-mature. 

So, preoccupied as I am, a forest fire poem seemed in order. But once the notion of contagion came up, the obvious corollary was social contagion:  conformity (which is the little brother of contagion) being an occupational hazard of social animals who are programmed to seek belonging and capable of social learning. This is the sort of analogy I look for:  a theme that makes the poem meaningful rather than simply descriptive. Especially in this age of populists rising to power. On the left, yes; but mostly, right wing authoritarians who appeal to people seeking certainty, simplicity, and order:  it’s as if an ideological trend has caught fire around the globe.

Of the choices I offer, the one that best fits me is oblivious. With, I hope, a little wisdom thrown in! Oblivion, a distance from which I can look on bemused (if belatedly!) at fashion, trends, and viral whatever. (Btw, I was determined not to use “viral” anywhere in this poem:  too easy, too clichéd. Glad I managed it!)