“If you had your time over again and you had the benefit of hindsight, we would have made different decisions, I am sure Australians are fair-minded and understand that when you make a promise to your kids you try and keep it.”
storm warnings
he flew to Hawaii,
ignited the public,
thick smoke hung
over swathes.
now he fled Cobargo
ravaged,
the locals savaged
his strange repose.
at the epicenter
of the local hall,
clothes stacked
on trestle tables,
sleeping bags tile
the blazing floor
& long-life milk
decorates high walls,
here is John
whose house
burned down
in Buchan South.
softly whispered
to a volunteer
that “no one came
looking for me.”
she hugged him,
he shed tears,
then accepted food
& insisted
on lifting
heavy brown boxes
the aid truck
just dropped off.
open roads
but there’s no fuel
like the clock
turned back
(desperate)
but the tank
not sufficient
to reach
a petrol station.
would you drive
& risk
getting stuck?
they stayed put
in the local hall,
I bore witness
on ABC to see:
death toll rising,
people missing,
two thousand homes
like Paradise,
destroyed?
fiery days ahead.
high temperatures,
strong winds
foretold –
fire fire
procuring oxygen,
the living
gradually
losing…
Another Poem: Paradise Lost: Trapped and Seeking Solace, A Journey Begins
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