poem: still the waters flow – 09/03/22

(c) 2022 Lauren M. Hancock Poetry and Prose

water, our life force,
as important as the air we breathe,
value this we must, nurture it, cherish it,
we do, shall, see?

water,
an elemental force, her importance, we heed,
countering roaring fires,
hydrogen and oxygen calm, in part,
but citizens harrowed and tired,
fled and flee,

forget these moments?
never,

we shall not,
smoke lingering on the breeze.

we as a nation banded together,
and of elements,
fire, earth, wind, water,
we encountered and employed them,
to ignore the strength of these,
alone or together,
we’d be ignorant,
and repeated recollection –
nightmarish,
awakening, split seams.

then the stagnant life
where we were hidden away
socialisation limited for our needs,
closed work spaces,
many months of solitude,
from society, away, away!

now, no major flames
or tempests fanning another destructive force,
no fire-forced movement – “Hades”,
pentacle, downward swipe,
instead again, lives lost,
pictures, memories, animals, remembrances of families,
destructed homes,
now lakes and rivers overflow…
when shall we be saved, when will we know?

but there’s fluidity and a resilience within us all
natural disasters will not keep us down
we, Australians, are strong and homegrown
brave and true, working together
we save each other
we rise up with others

for bold is our connection with Mother Earth
we respect her, we revere her, we are in awe of her
its power, her mighty force
for the power she provides
and the strength and cruelty with which
she can decimate,
be present, or run and hide.

like silken thread we ride her waves
undulating untamed like the dingo
and his friend ray
the flames they’re battered by winds
but we stay true,
together, united, resilience sees us through.
© 2022 Lauren M. Hancock Poetry and Prose. All rights reserved.
Artwork by Lin Onus and Mandjad Productions “Michael and I are just slipping down to the pub for a minute” 2000