A week ago, I along with many other Castlemainians had assembled my evacuation bag in readiness to survive a fiercely moving bushfire. Harcourt just 11kms north of Castlemaine took the heat and terror of the fire with indiscriminate property damage and is now left with the heartache and wreckage of that beautiful community. This homage is for all those Burnt Places.

Lament for Burnt Places

You have sheltered us.

You have nurtured and nourished us.

You have protected us

through pestilence and plague.

And now, it is our turn

to honour you and protect you

through your vulnerability

And your regrowth.

May we never lose sight

of your majesty

and your sovereignty.

Our message to you is this:

Love and respect.

To all the Burnt Places,

we send our tidings of lament.

For all the losses:

the houses, the livestock,

the wildlife, the fruit, the businesses,

the trees, the gardens,

the electricity, the internet,

the water,

and the heartache.

We hear you.

We feel you.

Our hearts are heavy for you.

Together, we plant new seeds

and tend all

Burnt Places as our own,

knowing that new growth is

victory over torment.

We salute you.

And we care.

                                                                                                  – Brenda Joy Addie