Monday, February 11, 2013

Remembering Ash Wednesday



© T B Jackson

In the morn the sky was eerie
An orange glow, a hazy scene
And although my eyes were bleary
It was a sight I'd never seen

There were reports the bush was burning
To the north near Adelaide
And the wind was blowing stronger
Towards the south a path was laid

But they said it wouldn't reach us
Was too distant, so it seemed
But with the tinder-dry vast landscape
A dark day was soon conceived

The tension built for hours on end
Just like the rising of the heat
And the wind whipped up a frenzy
Until with destiny we'd meet

Then it happened in an instant
With no warning, no remorse
The beast it rolled on through our town
With an unencumbered course

And we sat like pawns awaiting
Unprotected from our fate
As Mother Nature unleashed fury
Across our town, across our state

As the beast raged all around us
Like piercing daggers through my mind
Came the visions of destruction
And the death of all mankind

The cars resembled gloomy coffins
In wreck and ruin our lives lay
The stench of death hung all about
The hallowed turf where we once played

But as fate would often have it
We were spared the reaper's grasp
And when the fiery beast departed
Rejoiced the hand that had been cast

But the memories do still linger
In my mind they'll always stay
Of how a town cheated disaster
On that catastrophic day

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