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this poem was published in "Regeneration" an anthology launched at the Byron Bay Writers' Festival, August 2003
Growth Regrowth Regeneration
Canberra Bush Fires, 2003
A week today, the Blackwoods and the Bloodwoods bloomed
Today, both boughs and roots, by scorching fires
Consumed
Yet from this searing heat and burnished soil, arise
Already fresh urging shoots towards
Azure skies
Dehisced pods bursting with promises of pastures, forests
Renewed, amidst blackened stumps, stashed ashes
Charred koalas, stiffened roos
And wobbly wombats, from their hollowed homes come out
Search for food around the stench of death and bones of
Other lives
A week today the Blackwoods and the Bloodwoods bloomed
Tomorrow comes with nature's magic. Our heritage renewed
Not doomed.
~~~
©barbaraataylorfebruary2003
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