"bushfire" poems
Heat beats down upon the street
Birds too hot to fly,
Blistered sand you cannot stand
Drenched with sweat am I.
Cows collect in shadow deep
Panting sheep hang head,
Goshawk flies in cobalt skies
Hills of grass stand dead.
Whisp of smoke, a puff of breeze
Sirens scream in air,
Running men in squads of ten
Emerge from everywhere.
Now the rising wind takes charge
Runs with leaping flame
Into crown of eucalypts
To rage across the plain.
Too late the tenders hoses pour,
Too late the fireman’s shout
Inferno hot has run amok
And all control a rout.
Generating mighty winds
The fire charges forth
Spiralling in furnace air
To incinerate for sport.
Vanquished men exhausted stand
Watch with useless eyes,
As raging flames consume their truck,
Inside a good mate dies.
A live thing in the burnished night
It writhes and spirals high
Across the flaring treetops
Hot, red smoke fills the sky.
As sudden as it starts, it stops
A wind change in the air.
Ravaged forest stark and black
Hot ashes everywhere.
Hills of cinders smoking now
Stock in death’s repair,
Homesteads rendered charcoal like
Farmers in despair.
A silence in the ravaged hills
Birdless in the sky,
Bushfire horror, death and smoke
Enough to make you cry.
Marshalg
In support of my Australian brethren and their torched nation.
30 January 2013
Jan 29, 2013
Jan 29, 2013 at 8:16 PM UTC
My feet sweat, my shoulders burn
But I am indifferent.
Nature plays around me.
Close your eyes. The last thing you see
is a white butterfly dance past the tree-line
into oblivion blue.
Bush leaves crackle above you in branches
and below you, let loose through brittle grass.
A light wind conducts a symphony in which
Each shrub plays a part.
Each dry branch, kindling ready to explode,
Itching to snap its dangerously perfect note.
Thorns whistle sharply - reeds hiss and hum.
Every breeze is a clown, taking up instruments
And jostling melodies to play all at once.
The grass rushes to its queue, dry as a bone.
Leaves follow behind in vague harmonies.
I wait on the edge of an eventful storm.
The sky is blue.
A storm of events - something big,
Behind the horizon, behind the mirage.
A rhino.
A microlite .
Electric fences, purring.
A wan nation celebrates, then groans behind the hills.
Natures orchestra sings to no one in particular
Mar 5, 2013
Mar 5, 2013 at 2:21 PM UTC
Ginger bap,redfox, bushfire, carrot top, jinger minjer,oh! My personal favourite, daywalker!
(c) eileen [email protected] 2010
Jan 26, 2010
Jan 26, 2010 at 6:10 AM UTC
We plant roots so that a tree may grow,
A symbol of time and devotion
And if a bushfire comes,
Will our efforts be for naught?
Sep 10, 2014
Sep 10, 2014 at 6:08 PM UTC
I do not like the feeling of
examination,
of eyes burning on my back
as if you are a small match
and I am the bushfire
you wish to light...
I do not like the feeling of
obssessive observation,
I do not like privacy violation,
I do not like the feeling of claustrophobia,
I do not like claustrophobia because
it doesn't cease to exist by simply
removing ten people from one room.
I do not like claustrophobia because
sometimes your own mind is enough
to provoke a certain type
of wanderlust,
the kind where you run away
and leave everyone to rot and rust.
I do not like claustrophobia
because when I am alone,
it can never be enough alone,
it feels like the walls of my room
are breathing on my neck;
they're laughing at me,
declaring this poet insane,
it is the most crowded type of alone
until somebody, something
sedates my brain
and you call me "suggestive anxiety"
it's all in your head,
you're a game of chance
and I'm taking a guess;
you know my face but
you know nothing about my name.
Oct 11, 2016
Oct 11, 2016 at 11:29 AM UTC
ONE
A roaring bushfire
Kills ants. Cedar, sandal, pine
Sway in the bluster
Feb 10, 2012
Feb 10, 2012 at 10:45 PM UTC
...The idea that there's
something else
turns into a dream
of rising suns and
tomorrows of what seem to be
sweet flowers that
bloom upon meadows
beyond crystal
horizons
Shade of a butterfly's wings
brings a cool breeze
and a calm
found only in the eye of
the storm
A glimmering hope
in every grin
of despair
A sparkle rekindling
lost breath
turning into a bushfire
of reckless raging
forged by a selfish desire to be
free
And so this flight
will soar
into great heights
'til this quest
enslaves us all...
Feb 19, 2013
Feb 19, 2013 at 12:49 PM UTC
Have you ever seen the way
A bushfire sets beautifully ablaze
The deepest, darkest forest trees
A melting-orange intensity
It brings about an ash of gold
Like the smothering dust of charcoal
The wildest destruction ever to see
In the eyes of a son who came from me
Aug 28, 2021
Aug 28, 2021 at 12:07 PM UTC
...As one we
clapped and laughed
at the things that
others might cry upon
We drank and got drunk and
feasted on what we thought was
forever
It took seven days to
get rid of the hangover
but we knew it was worth the
pain and shame to walk
blindly into the night
We talked about things that
didn't make sense but we
never cared as long as the
fire burned
And burn it did the rumors
like bushfire,
yellow and orange and
wild
So we panicked and ran and yelled
towards the sun with
a smile...
Mar 18, 2013
Mar 18, 2013 at 10:12 AM UTC
Look behind, a shadow follows, morning till night,
at sun down, it transforms and waits, no curtains needed,
look around at night, see that mysterious bushfire,
some happened beyond time, heaven is your imagination speaking,
I stand on a flow that never stops and put all my hopes in love,
there is nothing that doesn't change, I stand where
many others before me stood, I forget that, but events repeat,
I stand naked on a rock with prehistoric markings,
my shrink will associate it with my desire to go back,
my loved ones whisper in to my ear, "Hallucinations all,
will be alright after a deep sleep, you're tired, mind a dark forest"
why overburden oneself with memories beyond time?
Reasons are fading darkness, when looking beyond the mind,
all you now pass through is a dream, seen in sleep, one sleep to the next,
How many galaxies are to be hopped in this intergalactic travel?
Aug 19, 2013
Aug 19, 2013 at 1:00 PM UTC
...Hope
and silver bullets to tomorrow
thunder is yesterday
so as gray clouds of
dead expectations
Washed away petals
with a struggle to forget
and there are voices
we fail to hear
Anger is a step towards
an irrelevant lightning
and hatred
is worse
when it drowns the reasons
Prayers are filled
with despair
when all that is needed
is but a single spark that will
pull a dream
from a bushfire
so the forsaken
shall believe
again...
Mar 4, 2013
Mar 4, 2013 at 10:02 AM UTC
She used to be your sun by day
And your moon at night
You never ran out of light
Your happy meal at the end of a long day
She never left your side
Not even for a single day
And when the night is deep
And you're short of sight
She became your extra eye
That kept you safe like a knight
She loved you with everything
She gave you everything
And gave up everything
Including her pride and sense of being
She gave you her heart
And offered her soul
But nothing she could ever give
Was ever enough to satisfy
Your perpetually gnawing greed and empty soul
You've lost that girl
Now you have to live
With this monster you created in her
You broke her fragile heart into a million pieces
And now you must make peace
And collect those broken pieces
And forget all about the beautiful morning kisses
Now she's nothing more
Than a collection of warning signs
And all the signals
You get in a danger zone
She's all the wrong turns you've ever made
And all the U-turns you never made
You ignited a spark within her
But that wasn't enough
You added gasoline to it in open air
A bonfire without stories
That's how lonely you left her
A bonfire that turned to a bushfire
She engulfs everything in her wake in flames
And you can't even take the blame
She's gone out of control
And you can't even call a fire brigade
She's the loss to every bet you've ever made
All the coins you've ever tossed
And she's all the lines you've ever crossed
And she's going to burn you
With the fire you started within her
Such is the beauty of a Goddess
You refused to see beyond her flaws
Now you're forced to see the beauty
She created out of them
And smell the fragrance
That oozes out of her pores
With somber elegance
And a tactful nonchalance
And embrace the fact
That you're not even worth a second chance
Perhaps you'll learn to find pleasure
In the mischief that lurks
In the dark sky of her beautiful eyes
And decipher the mystery in her smirk
But until then keep on scratching the surface because her heart is cold as ice.
Oct 10, 2014
Oct 10, 2014 at 2:58 AM UTC
three days later
you can still smell
the acrid smoke
on the wind
see the blackened
leaves a twiglets on
the green summer lawn
three days later
and the town still
murmurs about
how close the
fire front came
close enough for
the northshore houses
to see the voracious flame
to hear the crackle of it's burn
luck would have it,
that it turned,
luck and firefifighters
tested and tired, turned
the flame by art of backburn
back in on itself and then down to
the sea, down past the dunes
and then to die, to end in ash
five days of bushfire, haze and smoke
now just ash and grey black sculptures
on black ground canvas...
awaiting renewal......awaiting, awaiting
Dec 11, 2017
Dec 11, 2017 at 7:04 AM UTC
of course i left the shit-holes traumatised,
if i didn't read extensively i'd be
stuck in some slum for immigrants -
i mean, who, in, their, right, frame, of, mind
would teach children the basis
of abortion, among lessons about sniffing
glue (a practice in the Ukraine)
as if the 1960s psychedelic revolution never
took place? only the catholic church,
which loves the ****** of a John Smith...
i might as well be listening to Billy Joel
rolling a ****** Jesus... **** off...
take your little school while i learn
from the stoic Marcus Aurelius... seriously
Ben Hur und Aesop to you too! go on grovel
on your message: gehen nord...
yeah, because the romans were evil to incorporate
Judea into its pond empire...
the north men clashed with the jews in the Holocaust;
head north jesus said... so they headed in fakes...
polnisch hebräisch: Jiddisch Yiddish Jesus Jehovah
the tetragrammaton, ********
like they built the ******* pyramids...
sheep, sheep, sheep; i do better drumming
for the rhythm guitars than anyone,
esp. Billy on the MTV single hit about Australian
bushfire and a long list of names with rock around
the clock of Bill Haley & His Comets and oh ****** days
on the McDonald boulevard.
May 6, 2016
May 6, 2016 at 7:56 PM UTC
When she spoke of birds and bees,
She wasn't speaking about ***
Enumerating about leaf and trees,
Twinkle over a topic quite perplex.
When she spoke of rain checks,
She wasn't speaking about shopping,
Instead fretting over the birds in the nests,
Trees that perish by wood chopping.
When she spoke of a branch,
She wasn't speaking of business,
She spoke of destructive avalanche,
That pressure trees to diminish.
When she spoke of wood,
She wasn't speaking of phallus,
Or a portrayal of manhood,
She expounded on nature's palace.
When she spoke of nature,
Her passion burned hotter than a bushfire,
For she witnessed creatures endangered,
And the animals that suffered in our crossfire....
....Our crossfire between money and satisfaction...
Feb 12, 2016
Feb 12, 2016 at 2:52 AM UTC
2k19 month of September
Alarmed an international terror
Climate change, change in weather
Drought across the nation
Turned into fire Strom centre
5 months from now
We can still witness the ember
Smoke, ashes from bushfire
Travelled thousands of acres
This inferno had us surrender
We lost a million of species endangered
And pushed many near extinction
Humans were no exception
32 were lost in this render
People lost their land of ancestors
Houses which were a place of
Laughter, revitalization and relaxation
Now are nothing but melted shelters
Firefighters to social writers
All jumped to help out the situation
From taking control over fire
To spread awareness
Seeking for helpers
Nature finally blessed us
It rained and things got under control
Before fire would swallow everything
And melt us...
Jan 31, 2020
Jan 31, 2020 at 6:32 AM UTC
Beware the flooded roads,
Don't drive in that overflow,
You won't drive into a bushfire,
why drive into that watery mire,
Beware, there's danger there,
Some don't listen, it appears,
Washed away in the floods,
Beware, beware, that's far enough,
Beware, beware, my man,
Don't drown yourself in a tin can!
Apr 10, 2017
Apr 10, 2017 at 11:51 PM UTC
I was a bushfire, lit by the sun;
Ravaging through the foliage
Igniting the masses with a spark
Carried along by the wind
I was the ocean currents;
Creating rips pulling you out
Taking you with me
An irresistible force
I was the cliffs, along the seaside;
Framing the beauty below
Protector of the sacred waters
Daring you to jump in
I was the trees that hold through storms
Giving you shelter; offering safety
Completely one of mine own
Each branch reaching for the sky
I was the violent wind
Pushing you forward, backward
Pushing you to push against me
Or be taken by my ferocity
I was your everything and it hurts
To think you've given up on me
No sun, current, cliff, tree or breeze
Will ever bring you back to me
Jul 18, 2016
Jul 18, 2016 at 11:05 AM UTC
I was a bushfire, lit by the sun;
Ravaging through the foliage
Igniting the masses with a spark
Carried along by the wind
I was the ocean currents
Creating rips pulling you out
Taking you with me
An irresistible force
I was the cliffs, along the seaside;
Framing the beauty below
Protector of the sacred waters
Daring you to jump in
I was the trees that hold through storms
Giving you shelter; offering safety
Completely one of mine own
Each branch reaching for the sky
I was the violent wind
Pushing you forward, backward
Pushing you to push against me
Or be taken by my ferocity
I was your everything and it hurts
To think you've given up on me
No sun, current, cliff, tree or breeze
Will ever set you free
Aug 13, 2016
Aug 13, 2016 at 9:17 AM UTC
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 ****
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.
Jan 8, 2020
Jan 8, 2020 at 11:26 PM UTC
Dear stranger
I see you in the corner, alone, pondering
I watch as they dump the weight of their lives on you
It holds you down like a blanket in the ocean
I feel your frustration, bursting at the seems, waiting an eternity for it to all stop
The bitter sweet embrace of the end of your suffering, but the start of a new
You stare blankly, it doesnt phase you
A decision made over time that changes people lives in an instant
They dont see the impact, but it hits you hard
It holds you under, as you gasp for the air that was there only moments ago
Its dark in the flames, its too late to put it out
A simple spark starts a bushfire
You're a stranger to most, passing by without a second look
Some stop to watch the fire, or even add their own fuel
But the few who stop and burn with you, make all the difference
No amount of mourning or action can change the past, but it can sculpt the future
As the final light appears, regret seeps in, attempting to fill the cracks
But nothing can help now, its too late to heal
These scars last a lifetime, though short that may be
I dont know you stranger, but someone does
Sep 10, 2019
Sep 10, 2019 at 6:52 PM UTC
Heard today of the demise
of a couple elderly 78 and 73
caught in the malestorm
of a bushfire, unable to leave
the property they had lived on
for more than 50 years...
they took shelter in the house
he built...only to have it become
their pyre ..they were found together
There is poetry in this, love passion,tragedy, darkness and despair
and though these word do not come anywhere near describing the situation, it is my belief that these two people deserved some words written for them...
May they rest in peace...
Oct 11, 2019
Oct 11, 2019 at 8:30 AM UTC
Burn, burn like the rage of a dying flame.
Scream, scream with the cry of a bushfire.
Flicker, flicker away as the wind puts you out for one last inevitable time.
The bridges are now torched.
There is no you, there is only me.
Apr 9, 2020
Apr 9, 2020 at 4:41 AM UTC
The one who will love you shall come like the wind,
With a gentle breeze or a tempest within.
Their love will caress you with a tender touch,
And bring comfort, like a warm, gentle clutch.
Like a meandering stream that flows so serene,
Their love will be constant, a calming routine.
Through twists and turns, in every season,
Their devotion will remain, beyond any reason.
Their love, like autumn's vibrant display,
Will bring colors to your life, in every way.
With passion and warmth, their affection will bloom,
As leaves gently fall, they'll banish all gloom.
The one who will love you shall come like a flood,
A torrential force, rushing in, fierce and unshut.
Their love, like a bushfire, will spread with might,
Engulfing your heart in a warm, glowing light.
As a mighty avalanche reshapes the land,
They'll reshape your world, with a touch so grand.
Their love, like a soaring hurricane's gale,
Will leave no doubt, as emotions prevail.
Just as lightning strikes, unexpected and bright,
They'll electrify your soul, with love's pure light.
Like a tempest at sea, they'll stir your emotion,
A love that rocks your heart, with relentless devotion.
Like a shooting star, streaking through the sky,
Their love will amaze you, as it passes by.
In the depths of the ocean, so vast and profound,
They'll explore your heart, where true love is found.
Just like the moon's pull on the relentless tide,
Their love will draw you close, with nothing to hide.
In the quiet of night, like a twinkling star,
Their love will guide you, no matter how far.
Their love, like the sun, shining bright and warm,
Will bring light to your life, through any storm.
And just like a diamond, so precious and rare,
Their love will be cherished beyond compare.
They'll erupt into your life with fiery passion,
Leaving no doubt, it's a love that's meant to happen.
For in the journey of love, so wild and free,
You'll find the one who loves you, and you'll see,
So open your heart, embrace love's profound art,
For the one who will love you, shall conquer your heart.
Jul 28, 2023
Jul 28, 2023 at 4:07 PM UTC
in the midst of a dream
on thanksgiving morning
i was snoring away in a peaceful slumber when
firm hands wrapped around my stomach,
a couple of long fingers rested familiarly upon my breast
your hot breath was lighting up the back of my neck like a bushfire
your whiskers tickling the top of my spine
now i was awake.
you were breathing so heavily -
“go back to sleep” i mumbled, making myself smaller in your embrace
you got even closer against me
unbearably closer
whispering like you knew something i didn’t
“i just wanted to get your attention”
nothing was thought of that
i wanted to go back to sleep, after all
and you are known for playing games
but i don’t think i would be lying if i said that
my heart started beating like a mad drum
the hairs on the back of my neck stood up
and my whole body became the most awake it’s ever been
when you said
“i...love you”
i won’t forget that moment -
and i still have the biggest smile on my face that
is beginning to hurt.
“i love you too” i said so, so, so quietly
because i was afraid i was still sleeping in a dream
and none of it was real.
but we did go back to sleep -
and when we woke up again later
i knew deep in my heart that we had spoken those words to each other
in the world of the living.
and i am thankful for that.
Dec 1, 2019
Dec 1, 2019 at 1:12 PM UTC