For
those of you who live in New Mexico you might have remembered news
reports about the Virgin Fire near Jemez in June of 2003. I
used to work as a wildland firefigher and I was there during my first year of firefighting. Our camp was setup
in a pasture that contained a large prairie dog town. All the heavy
equipment caused cave-ins of the prairie dog burrows and dead prairie
dogs started showing up on the surface. This poem was inspired by true events that followed the discovery of the dead prairie dogs.
Oh those prairie dogs
Oh those prairie dogs, how they do conspire
to create panic and wreak havoc
with all the folks
On the Virgin fire
Prairie dogs in fire camp
are moving slow.
Oh no! What to do
because they just won't go!
Prairie dogs in camp,
they have no fear
They don't run
When humans are near.
They must have the plague,
or Monkey Pox!
We MUST move camp before
we all get knocked out of our socks.
Hurry up! We have to move the camp!
You'll be taking down and
setting up that tent again
by headlamp.
Oops! We forgot.
names and numbers
of those in camp
we have not got.
Now it's hurry up and wait
the lines grow long
as our records
we up date.
At our new camp
we finally arrive.
At least to the fire
we now have a shorter drive.
The plague scare is now history
No need to worry.
The cause of the problem
is no longer a mystery.
Sorry we got you all pissed
for a few little Prairie dogs
that just got squished!
