Murky Air

13/11/2020 – Poem a Day Compilation



The air is murky today

It hangs heavy in the atmosphere

Cloying

But not sweet like spring should be



The dread of summer has come early

Much earlier than last year

I can smell the smoke

It’s too far to see just yet



But there’s a darkness around me

Despite the clear skies overhead

I can feel the rain in my soul

Long before it falls on the ground



It won’t come soon enough

The trees will turn black before then

Their leaves gone

The bush unrecognisable



My sweat and tears won’t help

And the tanks are bone dry

The winter rains few and far between

For too many years now



The gutters have been cleared

The ladder still propped up

Idling beside the house

Just in case we need it



You wouldn’t think there’d be anything left

When we’ve suffered through this

Less than twelve months ago

And it nearly broke us, then



We pray for clouds that won’t come

To a god that doesn’t exist

Because it’s all we can do

When hell arrives at your door



I can hear the sirens blaring

Roaring down the road

Trying to get ahead of the front

Before it jumps the river



We call it a river

It’s not even been a trickle lately

The animals have moved on

They’re smarter than us



Last year it was licking at our fence

Embers drifting on the hot breeze

The air thick with smoke and fear

And sheer desperation



I don’t remember what we did

If we manned a hose

Or beat out spot fires

With tattered hessian sacks



I do remember some things

Things no one should remember

Things that are seared into my brain

And that I can’t drown out



I remember what charred kangaroo looks like

Teeth showing through melted flesh

Fur all but gone

Not being brave enough to check pouches



I remember the sound of exploding gas tanks

From cars we couldn’t get to

That couldn’t save us

From the descending inferno



I remember the crackling

As branches were consumed

By an ever-hungry beast

That refused to be tamed



And I remember the whites of the eyes

Behind soot stained masks

Of men and women

Who stared down death and won



But memories won’t spare us now

As a thousand freight trains bear down

With a ferocity you can feel before you hear

And hear before you can see



I’d give anything right now

For this murky air to be a summer storm

Dumping gallons of glorious water

On parched fields and paddocks



What I wouldn’t give

For that grey creeping over the horizon

To not be filled with nightmares

But bringing with it salvation



Maybe this year won’t be as bad

Maybe me heart won’t break again

Because I know I can’t keep this up

When old scars haven’t healed