Very honoured to have my poem Memory of a Black Summer chosen to be published in Women’s Ink Summer 2023., the quarterly Journal of the NSW Society of Women Writers.
The theme was ‘Climate – the heat of the moment’and my summer poem fitted right in.
Thank you to the editor Jo Shevchenko and to the President Maria McDougall for a very affirming year .
CLIMATE -THE HEAT OF THE MOMENT
In memory of a black summer
We had the experience but we missed the meaning.
– TS Eliot
the cicadas ring earlier
morning birds call earlier too
and then become silent
the summer ritual of each day –
carrying buckets of water
to top up the bird baths
is quickly appreciated
there seems an orderly queue
no boisterous bickering today
as if there is bird protocol
we all need to preserve our energy
for these days are solemn
so much loss so much to mourn
so many birds so many mammals
insects and living worlds lost
the smoke-laden air
can hardly be breathed
the ashened sun masked
our summer of people fleeing
livelihoods burn
metal buckles
people rescued from beaches
refugees in their own country
we fear
we dread
we are in pain
for ourselves and our traumatised earth
even the south pole
ash-blanketed melts
our carefree boxing day
of cricket tennis yacht races
is carefree no more
I continue my summer ritual
of topping up the bird baths early
the birds fly in
then sipping at the edge
keep nodding thank you thank you
as if they know I’m watching
Colleen Keating
