Melbourne - January 11, 2008

Like yesterday, today's weather forcast will be very hot around 40 degrees C. It is the time of the year where people especially in rural areas have to be aware of the danger of fire season. While fire can be caused by nature, like lightning strikes, sadly many of them were deliberately lit by certain individuals who obviously have some degree of psychological problems. I'm just praying that the cool change later today will help the fire fighters to contain the fire that is now raging in Morrisons (edit- not in Elaine as I previously wrote), South of Ballarat, Victoria.

This extreme heat and fire remind me of one morning in the early of Janurary 2007. When I opened  the curtain of the front window that day, I saw the sky was pinkish grey and the sun was hanging there...blood red!! It was a strange eerie feeling. Then we heard from the news that it was the smoke from the big fire in North-east Gippsland that caused the strange phenomenon. The fire started early in December 2006 and kept on burning until 18 January 2007. The hot summer heat and the draught made it hard to contain. Ironically, the same area was flooded monhts later when the rains started to fall in November last year.

I wrote this poem in January almost a year ago.....

Bushfire

The blood-red sun was a giant burning amber
Eerie pink lights sifted through grey matter
It was not a bad omen from God of a terrible disaster
Just a crazed man deliberately set a fire

Prestine forests were burning in stinking hot summer
And thristy soil and creeks were gaping for rain water
Strong sizzling North wind made things worse
Our of control, the spreading fire brought bigger curse

People were forced to use the last trickles of precious water
Properties were moistened, the fire was coming near
Futile efforts of fire fighters as the flame raging closer
Mad fire-bug brought disasters to human and nature

Weeks later the forests were ghostly blackened smoulder
They said fire patches would be burning for much longer
Overcame by the blaze, people had expected the worse
While the sky still refused to quence nature's thirst.

16 January 2007