Earth Burned — Chris Alleyne Photography

Earth Burned

And burned
And burned some more
And no-one cared
After all, it burned
On a distant shore.

It burned the grass
It burned the trees
Brought the wildlife to its knees
The rivers boiled
The earth did steam
And, in the sky
The stars did gleam

But we could not see them
Through ash and smoke
No-one listened; no-one spoke.
Then it rained
And rained
And rained

Plants resprouted,
Then they gained
A foothold in the ashen ground
With greens, and yellows
Red and brown.
The trees spring back,
And so they should.

But the animals
Are gone for good.

Note: This was written a few months ago when Australia was burning as if it would never stop, and there was so little reported of the disaster on the US news channels which we saw in Barbados.