The First Fleet

• Zoe Miller, Grade 7, The Emanuel School
• Poetry
• 2014

Excellence Award in the 'Write As Rain 2014' competition

We sit around the campfire as the flames try to grab the emu in the stars
We dance and sing along with the didgeridoo
The air fills with the throaty grown of a thousand bees

On hot days I go with Wyjeru to the sandy beach
I dive into the salty freshness
I lie on the grass watching the fluffy white clouds changing shape

As mum paints me with the markings of my people
My heart fills with pride
Every stroke of colour makes me more beautiful

I sit in the field looking at the bright flowers
The colours are alive and beautiful
Our people's souls are the colours of the flowers

I see a dark shape on the horizon
I see people
Strange pale faces I have never seen before

The sky went dark the sun never came out again