The fires came through the other day,

blazing fierce, no warning given.

A careless spark, a flash of red,

and then it grew, by strong winds driven.

It jumped the road, it charred the land,

firefighters fought it, no houses lost.

But this was home to wildlife too;

in terms of them, who’ll count the cost?

After the Dean fire near Creswick, Victoria. Image courtesy of Gina Pestana