Two years ago, it was my town threatened by bushfires. It was my community losing homes, livestock, and family farms. Now, it feels as though half the country is burning, or has already burnt down.
The horrific and disastrous bushfires this summer have triggered so many feelings and memories. I remember how gut-wrenchingly awful it was then, and cannot comprehend the exponential scale of the current catastrophe my country is experiencing.
Like then, I have friends who have lost everything except the few things they managed to take with them as they evacuated. My heart breaks for them, but I am so incredibly thankful they got out when they did.
I feel so useless. It seems as much as one donates and supports and cries and prays for an end to the fires, it never feels like enough.
Add a few layers of grief, empathy, and occasional despair, and you get something of an idea about how many Australians are feeling at this point.
I wrote this poem, and a number of others, in the aftermath of the St Patrick’s Day fires of 2018. It seems an appropriate poem to post at a point where a large proportion of eastern Australia is either on fire, has burnt, or is blanketed in acrid smoke.
It is a recollection of an actual conversation among locals in my town back in March 2018, and bears witness to the resilience and the empathy of Australians in the face of adversity.
This poem is included in ‘Smoke and Shadows’.
All profits from the sale of this book between January 1 and June 30 are being donated to ongoing bushfire relief.
WordyNerdBird 
We’ve gone through it in several of the past five years, wearing masks when outdoors, trying to stay indoors, ready to evacuate, watching the fires, cheering on the firefighters, looking for how we can help. We were fortunate; we were spared. I’ve followed Australia’s horror for the last several months as it worsened and worsened. I feel so hopeless. It never feels like we’ve done enough. As we progress through winter, and watch Australia, we worry about our next summer.
“Smoke In Our Eyes” powerfully captures the sensibility of such disasters. You never know.
Glad your friends made it out. Stay safe. Michael
I am on the other side of the pond in the U.S. and here in CA we have had our share of horrible fires too, but so far we are ok. This happens every year so we are used to it, but as less water becomes available in some areas as it has where Australia’s fires have been, we will likely suffer the same things. Wishing all the people there and the animals and all forms of life will be ok through this great tragedy. You are in our thoughts for sure.