Victorian Bushfires: A Week Later
It has been a week since the beginning of the bushfires that has ravaged the state of Victoria, where I live. 181 killed, over 2000 homes destroyed and tens of thousands of bushland burnt, and it is not yet over. The Government and authorities have predicted that the death toll will rise above 200, and it will be many years before those whose lives were devastated by the fires can start living again.
In the memory of those who have been affected, I have written a little something:
Only the Burning Sky
I see not summer's azure horizon,
Only the burning sky;
That recalls the fiery depths of hell,
And terror I cannot deny.
I see not bushland's great expanse,
Only the dark abyss;
Of black limbs thrust from a desolate wasteland,
And bones in a graveyard of ashes.
I see not nature's birds and beasts,
Only the scattered remains;
Of stolen lives and hopes unfulfilled,
And faces tears will stain.
In the memory of those who have been affected, I have written a little something:
Only the Burning Sky
I see not summer's azure horizon,
Only the burning sky;
That recalls the fiery depths of hell,
And terror I cannot deny.
I see not bushland's great expanse,
Only the dark abyss;
Of black limbs thrust from a desolate wasteland,
And bones in a graveyard of ashes.
I see not nature's birds and beasts,
Only the scattered remains;
Of stolen lives and hopes unfulfilled,
And faces tears will stain.