In the line of fire

Birds fall silent in the windless air.

Something heavy, foreign, worrying, usurps the scent of eucalypt.

Crouched among iris and rock rose, I look up. An eerie orange light bathes the garden.

I scramble to standing, a deep breath stinging my throat.

I smell it then.

With a thumping head I climb to a vantage point.

A long pall of smoke spreads from the south-east toward us.

I leave my tools in the shed and retreat.

This time the burn is controlled.

controlled burn

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 24th, 2010 at 10:06 am and is filed under bushfires. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

One Response to “In the line of fire”

  1. John Says:
    April 2nd, 2010 at 10:54 am

    Love the blue sky in that photo. I’m still not sure about controlled burns, it just seems to me to be part of that attitude of trying to control nature and not just leaving it to take its course. It might take generations but we should try and get back to pre-settlement vegetation in as many areas as possible.
    I know the original locals did it before we arrived, but they had a different bush then.