OAK RIDGE, Tenn. — A 16-year-old at Oak Ridge High School was given the Promising Young Writers Award after writing a poem about the 2016 Gatlinburg wildfires.
Brooke Kizzire very vividly remembers the day thousands were evacuated from Gatlinburg, her parents included.
She was in school, afraid for her parents’ lives as a fallen tree blocked their only escape from the blaze.
Today, her parents are safe and her home still stands while many of their neighbors were not so lucky.
Kizzire wrote “I am Fire” in the perspective of the wildfire that took several lives, injured hundreds, and destroyed countless homes and dedicates her poem to them.
“The prompt was ‘my nature’ and at first I felt that I wanted to write about the beauty of nature but this was just heartbreaking,” Kizzire said. “After a while people usually move on from things but when you’ve experienced it personally it’s hard to just move on, so I hope this has touched them in a way so that they know they’re not forgotten even though it’s been years since the fact.”
Kizzire is a sophomore at Oak Ridge High School where she will continue writing while pursuing a career in nursing.
The following poem is written by Brooke Kizzire:
I am Fire
I am summoned by the will of children.
Their physique is of a man;
but children none the less.
Oh, how the spark of life is so addictive.
By the strike of a match, I have been born.
Now, I grow.
On this day of stillness,
a sudden wind comes from an unknown place,
as if to greet my arrival.
It is strong, but welcoming.
I slowly creep across the earth;
staining the world in ash.
The dry leaves dissolve at my touch
and the wind gets stronger, to show approval.
The swaying trees cackle tauntingly.
How dare they mock me.
I put the insult to rest.
I must continue on my path of expansion.
As I crawl, I feel my strength increase
and my capabilities broaden.
My heat radiates onto the surrounding wildlife,
causing them to scurry away in fear.
Can you feel my wrath?
Climbing up trees come easily to me,
as the branches that once mocked me burn to charcoal.
I grow, but I still want more.
Trailing the mountain range,
I peak over the horizon.
A sunrise in the middle of the day,
promising devastation.
As I look down, the people still underestimate my abilities,
as the trees once did.
I can bring a grown man to his knees;
have him cry out to his God.
I am destruction.
I am all powerful.
I am fire.
November 28th of 2016, started as a peaceful Monday. With the forecast of mostly cloudy and partly sunny, how could it not be? Later, in the day, however, it becomes anything but. There were Firefighters and Park Rangers working on a wildfire in the Chimney Tops 2 area of the Smoky Mountain National Park. The Park’s fire had been started by 2 juveniles that threw out a few lit matches while walking down a trail. Over the course of 5 days, the fire spreads past the park’s boundaries and into the city. With the assistance of extreme winds, fallen trees, and downed power lines, mini fires are created and spread throughout the area. Within hours, much of Sevier County is burning.