Flip Breskin – Story & Original Song

The story behind the song is that, in the first days, while the fires were still burning, I heard an announcer on KGMI talking about “There are people who are going to make a fuss about the burned trees, and then there are people who care about the families of those poor boys!” as if people needed to choose one or the other. I was outraged at this attempt to polarize our community in our shared trauma, and sat down to try to write an answer. It came out better than I expected, and broader.

Requiem For Whatcom Falls

No one is replaceable
Each one is unique
Every woman, every man
Every child, every tree
Every tiny flower
That sparkles in the forest
Every snowflake, every leaf
You and me

The shapes of cliffs and waterfalls
Boulders, deep ravines
The moss that shapes and softens
The stoneâs slow dignity
Every tiny pebble
That sparkles in the creek bed
Every young man, every minnow
You and me

Everythingâs ephemeral
Nothing lasts forever
This world of constant
Change brings grief
And possibility
Sometimes slow as moss on stone
Sometimes fast as fire
Deep as ocean
Deep as loving memory

© 1999 Flip Breskin