in the haze i fix my gaze
to the burning tree in front of me
what a sight in the fading light
burning so bright
the orange glow burning so slow
now it is night the forest is alight
the earlier sight now filled with fright
the very loud roar scares me to the core
the sky is red so many animals dead
the forest land is burning grand
amazing site that is filled with fright
we run from the hills our water tank spills
not looking back at the monsters attack
we run we run from the burning sun
our land is on fire this is extremely dire
tomorrow we pray for a wind change day
as we pay respect and feel our neglect
we ask the sky to listen to our cry.
Categories:
bushfire, animal, anxiety, fear, fire,
Form: Rhyme
At peace in the world, alone with her joey,
A soft breeze ruffles her hair,
Amongst the green of life all around,
In the freshest of forest filled air,
Just sitting and gazing, peering at love,
In tune with the natural ballet,
She sees the birds fly off for nothing at all,
Fly off to a place far away,
Then a little fat wombat quietly scurries on past,
Over dead leaves all ashen dry,
And off in the distance above all the green,
The orange fires up to the sky,
All hell breaks on out, her paws hit the ground,
One final truth she now understands,
No time to think, for today is her last,
As the fire rips through her home land.
Categories:
bushfire, animal, confusion, death, fire,
Form: Personification
Never did a fire so fierce
Blow across the land
That same land
His heart did grow
Nourished by his sweat and toil
No more
The morning mist
Will hear his weathered voice
Call his horse
Com'orn
His mark
Has been scorched from its soil
And how that land
Greens, grays
And blacked haze
With gusts of wind
And rumpled hills
The fathering face
Of this dead man
Hidden beneath
Categories:
bushfire, death, father, fire, horse,
Form: Free verse
Thunder rolls in the distance, lightning jags across the sky,
all around the heavens are angry … a fiery strike becomes the eye.
With little rain, and tinder forest, flame reaches out for what is near,
rising through gum and wattle, as undergrowths all disappear,
hell rises up to the heavens; fear on four legs run or die,
sparkling ash swirls to the forefront; smoke quickly fills up the sky.
The roar is a warning to all. Don't hesitate! Run, crawl or fly -
When confusion has ended; destruction and shattered there lie
leaving all eerie; blackened! Scarred! A lifeless bleak charcoal waste,
with layered ash casing the soil. Each living soul has been displaced …
Listen! … The birds are returning. New green appears on blackened tree.
The forest floor is changing; sweet new growth swarms abundantly,
There's movement ahead in the distance - returning is the kangaroo!
Where lush picking is for the taking, as this forest returns anew …
The circle of life is completed. Banksia, grass tree will soon return.
Clematis and orchids will show their heads ...
… and thrive ‘til the forest - is once again ready to burn.
Categories:
bushfire, fire, nature,
Form: Rhyme
The wind is now a soughing sigh,
Smoke is slowly drifting.
Devastation meets the eye.
Home burned down,
Chimney standing.
Possums gone, fate unknown,
Snakes are dead, birds have flown.
Bush destroyed, and trees, devoid
of green leaves, bare.
While all around, the empty sound
of nothing living there.
Within the heat of raging flame
gumnut shells have broken.
The fire did its worst, yet best,
the nuts will grow and so attest
that nature's voice has spoken.
Beneath the layer of fertile ash
Those hardy seeds remain.
Until one day they surge and push
and green once more will clothe the bush,
as growth begins again.
Categories:
bushfire, naturegreen,
Form: Rhyme