BLACK MOUNTAIN

West Marin Feed

Iconic Black Mountain is burning,
my cousin's ranch, in the foreground,
is a verdant oasis of cattails and Irish luck.

We never called it by its rightful name.
It was always Elephant Mountain.
Or Fist, or Knuckle Mountain.
Now it really is black—scorched earth.

They say the fire began at Platform Bridge

and hungrily licked its way up the gully 

by the abandoned cinnabar mine. 

All the painted fish on the bridge could not stop it.

The slopes are dressed in red fire retardant. 
Warpaint and a cape for the angry summer season.

Defying gravity, fire trucks and 'dozers

met the phoenix at the crest.

Air tankers circled in for the kill.

The wildfire was slain at the summit.

Probably sparks from some passing motorist 

who never gave it a second thought.

Water under the bridge.

8/8/-9
Iconic Black, or Elephant Mountain is to West Marin
as Ayer's Rock, or Uluru, is to Australia.