Forest Reborn

Fire hugs the trees

Turning them black,

Licking their leaves,

Turning them to ash,

Snaking through limbs,

Making them crash.

Desperate animals scamper and scurry

From under the flames

Escaping the heat.

Birds squawk and cry

Protecting their babies,

Soaring high above the flames.

Trees lay in sooty despair

Camouflaged in the black landscape.

Green shoots play hide and seek among the soot,

Birds slowly return

Bringing animals with them.

The gums reach for the sky.

Once an endless black plain,

Now a lush green forest.