They’ve come early this year,
before the start of summer.
Hot dry days
for hot dry weeks
leave bush and grasslands
tinder dry -
at flashpoint.
A faulty vehicle exhaust?
A stray piece of broken glass?
A smouldering cigarette butt?
An arsonist or pyromaniac?
A lightning strike in a dry thunderstorm?
A forgotten electrical connection?
So many ways to start a bushfire.
A spark
becomes a flame
becomes a fire
becomes a bushfire
becomes a holocaust.
Homes,
businesses,
infrastructure,
livestock,
pets,
human lives,
whole townships,
our precious bushland,
our wildlife and flora,
endangered species …
all at risk -
all under threat.
And yet
human spirit prevails.
Communities unite in mutual support.
Firefighters - many as volunteers -
sacrifice home comforts,
families and income
for days on end.
Others provide food, safe havens,
funds and resources.
Under threat we hold together
and so we survive.
Hot dry days
for hot dry weeks
leave bush and grasslands
tinder dry -
at flashpoint.
Summer is still young.
The worst is yet to come.
We must survive.
