Ella Sl8er - Black Saturday

Flames flying, animals dying,
One Saturday I heard the news.
Savage fires buring higher,
So much at stake to lose.
Stay and fight, run and hide,
Only minutes to choose.

Will you wait till the end, try to defend,
And fight to save your home?
The need to prevail through this dreary tale,
This last chance cannot be blown.
So many choices, too many voices,
The fear of being alone.

Or will you run, let the damage be done,
Forget the life you must desert?
Hoping you'll find pets left behind,
Among your possessions strewn in the dirt.
Valuables are lost, but that is the cost,
For your family to be left unhurt.

Death toll growing, can't stand not-knowing,
So many lives destroyed.
Constant crying, so many dying,
Pain that you can't avoid.
Stifling sobs as they're left without jobs,
Too many are left unemployed.

Patience folding, houses smouldering,
Fuelling the bright red flame.
Hospitals filled, hundreds killed,
And now we know who to blame.
To light a fire then watch disaster transpire,
Surely you can't still be sane.

To cause such pain for personal gain,
How do these people escape guilt?
Do they toss and turn as the fire burns,
As communities turn to silt?
Sympathy feined so they wouldn't be blamed,
Leaving victims with barely a quilt.

When supplies ran low and some had nowhere to go,
The country pulled together.
Hands were lent, money was spent,
And the kindness will be remembered forever.
So Black Saturday, in a sad kind of way,
Changed everyone's lives for the better.

Ella Sl8er

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/black-saturday-4/