Bushfire

It started with an ember.

It spread jumping from leaf to leaf.

I can clearly remember

The feel of dread and grief.

The flames licked up the trees.

The fear of them all as it nearly reached us.

The joeys and mothers freeze

And the kookaburras are for once speechless.

The heat overwhelms us,

We live our final days in complete silence.

I don’t think we can adjust

To live with flames and the violence.

The ashes and the sadness

As the fires all die down.

All around the blackness.

We must say bye to our town.

We feel the sympathy

For the creatures who didn’t make it.

The eyes all around, glasslike and shimmery.

We lost our homes, but we cannot quit.