--Embers of Smoke--

Mustafa Santiago Ali

Dr. Mustafa Santiago Ali is the Executive Vice President of Conservation & Justice for the National Wildlife Federation (NWF), former Interim Chief of Programs at the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), and Instructor at American University. He is the Founder and CEO of Revitalization Strategies. He also serves as a commissioner for The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAAS). He is an award-winning writer and poet focused on social justice. Dr. Ali is frequently seen on television, including appearances on MSNBC, ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, VICE, FUSE, BET, National Geographic, Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, and Democracy NOW! Mustafa is also a regular guest on Roland Martin Unfiltered, Black News Channel, Tavis Smiley Show, The Dean Obeidallah Show, and many others…

Editor's Note: This poem is the 88th in our Democracy and Hope Series. This series will highlight hopeful aspects about our Democracy using various genres including poems, interviews, short stories, and articles about political events

The city, coughing up smoke, holds its breath while the hills howl— orange teeth gnawing at the night, trees fall like prayers unanswered. Los Angeles burns, but so do we, brighter.

First responders carve themselves into miracles, walk into the throat of hell with nothing but water and will. They’ve made friends with fear, dance barefoot on the coals because someone must.

Behind them, men with numbers stitched to their backs, chains swapped for hoses, firelight painting redemption on their faces. They grip axes like dreams deferred, cutting through flames, carving space for something holy to rise.

The neighbors hum hymns of togetherness, passing buckets hand to hand, sharing what little the fire left behind. A woman feeds strangers from her stove, her apron a flag of resistance, her soup the sermon: we do not burn alone.

Nonprofits set tables in the ash, fill bellies and silence the growl of grief. Everyday saints open their doors, their wallets, their hearts. Small offerings bloom into forests of grace— one blanket, one bottle, one spark at a time.

Yes, the sky is bruised with smoke, the earth is scorched, but still— here we are, a people burning with love, with something the fire cannot touch.

Call it hope. Call it stubborn. Call it human. We rise from the ash again, and again, and again.

©️MustafaSantiagoAli

#Poetry #Hope #Wildfires2025 #ClimateAction #SoCal #LosAngeles #Resister #Healing