Embers Poem by Ngimchule Nampeung

O cometh the spell o' vitality,
Who but Nature celebrates Nature best?
The orchid panicles blossom in happy hues,
The golden orioles chirp in symphonic abundance,
Creatures of the forest amble by,
Relishing the feel of soft wet earth beneath their feet,
What blissful ignorance Nature dwells in!


But, lo! The hour's come.
The time is nigh to move the wooded district;
To slash, burn and seed yet again.
Tools sharpen'd, taking the accurs'd fire;
To the wild, men go.
Bent on sucking life out of life: To live.


The light kindled;
The flame sparks off in lurid red
Scorching up the earth,
Like a dragon snaking through.
Hades opening wide its fiery mouth.
The air reeks of the charred hulks,
Smoking out every beautiful being,
Licking at their fleeing paws.
All lives razed.



Higher and higher rises-
The cinders of the old cedars and oaks,
Up into the Stygian sky with unwinding serenity.
A crack - A glimpse of the dazzling heavens!
The gods belch.
Having swallowed what is left of the lesser creatures.
Alas! Alas! An apocalypse!
Just so man shall not know hunger.
©Ngimchule Nampeung