Call sign 'Tanker five-zero', a DC-6B air tanker contracted to the U.S.F.S. for forest fire suppression duties.
NORTH
Soft tundra, mosquitoes’ waist deep,
a thriving moody beast.
Wind from beating wings, deafening in its silence.
Twilight confusing our mentality.
Sun low on its ride, chased by dark acrid smoke-screeching for the stars,
lightening the birth mother of this flame, crinkling yellow to the Bering Sea.
In awe, running silent we drive our machine, cockpit lights low, simply aghast at the fury.
Thinking as mortals, to trump an angry God. So foolish a thought, we sink into ambiguity.
Alaska does it furiously.
Wild land fire, bears, and things.
A vintage Douglas DC-6 tin toy in Pan American Airline colors. Company call sign 'Clipper'. A sad day when it ceased to be heard in the airways of the world.
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