A Formidable Foe

• Areebah Khan, Grade 5
• Poetry
• 2014

The dying sky is clogged with smoke
Flames coat the earthen floor, like a cloak
Cinders of slain trees pile on the ground
Fire is everywhere, all around.

Bland, smoky ash rains down upon
Dying, writhing lives – long foregone
Oh, Mother Earth, why create such a beast?
On us, it creates a filling feast.

A raging monster, a master of death
Lives, snuffed out, with a single breath
With scalding hot breath and no mercy,
It’s a master predator, deadly.

It is a formidable foe,
It can withstand a deadly blow
We shall never, ever tire
From defeating the bushfire.