DESCRIPTION:
composed by Timothy Corlis
from “Heart Songs of the White Wampum” (2015)
poetry by E. Pauline Johnson
performed by Elektra Women's Choir, March 14, 2015
with guest artist, Beverley Johnston, marimba
Ryerson United Church, Vancouver BC

III. Fire Flowers

And only where the forest fires have sped,
Scorching relentlessly the cool north lands,
A sweet wild flower lifts its purple head,
And, like some gentle spirit sorrow-fed,
It hides the scars with almost human hands.

And only to the heart that knows of grief,
Of desolating fire, of human pain,
There comes some purifying sweet belief,
Some fellow-feeling beautiful, if brief.
And life revives, and blossoms once again.