Poem: Five Definitive Moments

 

Childhood is

a flat green blade growing from the stem of a plant,

the absorbing and digesting of

a body of myths

 

Adolescence is

the property of becoming self-luminous

in the recognition of

fire and hunger and strong desire

 

Adulthood is

the acceptance of the heat and light caused by burning;

a steady flow that rises

as the tide, and ebbs

 

Wisdom is

known only to those of special comprehension,

something very white,

a leaf blown across the firmament

 

Death is

the beginning of all things, the nape

that links the body of one life to

the head of the next

 

 

Image: Good Lie

The Great Fire of Vancouver

Today is the 130th anniversary of the fire that completely destroyed Vancouver in 1886, just two months after the city had been incorporated.

The fire was deliberately set, to clear undergrowth between the present-day Main and Cambie Streets, but was swiftly expanded out of control by a heavy wind. Almost every structure in the new city was destroyed, with only three said to survive. A number of people were killed, but very few were identified due to the destructive power of the fire’s high heat.

Rebuilding began within a few days and, in the end, the great fire proved to be merely a hiccough in Vancouver’s rapid rise.