Poetry Corner

                                                               Stuck

                                                                     By Darren McErlain © 2020

I look out the window to see a plume of big black smoke,

The mountains are on fire and air can make you choke.

I see the TV pictures as the orange flames hop and jump,

The dams are all dry and there’s no water to pump.

I spend my holidays inside to avoid the smell of ash,

I pray I can go out soon, to spend my Christmas cash.

The fires calmed and the rain buckets made its mark,

The sky dropped a river and flooded my special park.

I couldn’t go outside in case I got wet or I might drown,

I stayed inside my house and just wore my dressing gown.

The rain settled down and I finally got out the back,

To freely smell the muddy ash and ride my special track.

I went back to school and learnt the world was not well,

The shop shelves were empty with limited things to sell.

A flying invisible monster germ was picking on a few,

So we washed our hands with liquid soap and went through a few.

The world went all bossy, and there was not much fun around.

Most shops were closed or had X’s on the ground.

You couldn’t have a party, or visit your Nan and Pop,

The world became quite boring and the fun came to a stop.

I always wished one day that I didn’t have to go to school,

My wish came true that day, and I felt like such a fool.

My friends became invisible or zoomed off in the distance,

To see them in real-life, was a sad impossible existence.

The Easter show was banned, and ANZAC driveways became the law,

No Mother’s Day or going to church, the planet became a bore.

Today I don’t feel so stuck, but things are touch and go,

I am scared there’ll be another, sometimes I just don’t know.

The trees remain blackened and the floods have left their mark,

The invisible germ still lurks around to make the world all dark.

I am glad I’m not so stuck and I can now get around a bit more,

I still wash my hands, because some days, I am not so sure.