We’ll Wait
By Sebastian Klarica
This poem was written during the bushfires that spread through Australia’s east coast over New Years Eve and New Years Day 2018/19. I went to work in Melbourne while my family and friends houses stood in the path of a raging fire. Helpless and with work failing to distract me, I wrote this on a napkin and am now posting it here.
Dry air where the salted breeze should be
Waves of heat pouring into our skin
We stand by the car as the last bags are packed in
The scorched earth continues to rescind
We thought we had more time, but the wind changed quick
Dad was still in town, so we had to listen to Rick
“Charlie take your sister and the truck and head to the beach
I’ll pick up your mother in the small car, keep a hold of Roxy’s leash”
My orders are clear, I have to steer
Exhausting the clutch, the engine heating up
But I listen to Rick and take them
Take Roxy and Kid to the beach
“Wait for us there, we won’t be a second”
I stalled the truck twice, but the coast beckons
The drive is silent, the roads empty
Houses evacuated in this land of plenty.
The soles of my feet burn as they hit the sand
I put shoes on my sister before I take her hand
She hasn’t said a word, I think she’s scared
There’s a family down on the beach sitting still, dread in the air
“Charlie how long will they take?”
“I’m not sure kid, just a little longer we’ll wait”
The sun starts to set, but the sky remains red
Kid tries to stop shaking in this forty-degree heat
Fear spreads from her heart to her head to her knees
Across the bay, the town is engulfed
Smoke billows from the stores we used to shop
Surely dad’s out there, he wouldn’t have left it so late
“Charlie what do we do?”
The fear in her voice quakes
“We’ll Wait”.
Hours pass, no sign of Rick
Kid distracts herself, throwing Roxy a stick
More family’s join us, but they’re not our kin
Unfamiliar faces stare at the two abandoned kids
An old man tells me, “the fire’s heading east
It’s not a spot fire, this one’s a beast
what’s your plan of attack?”
“We’ll wait” I reply, his questions subside
Smoke thickens throughout the night
We lay in the truck pretending to sleep
I stare up at the sky, wishing to see a star
But the smoke covers it, covers us all til the end of the dark
Day breaks and the firies come, telling us the beast has passed
We can go home now, we can go home at last
The old man returns, offers to help us pack the truck
“No need” I tell him, but it’s not a matter of pride
He urged me to go home, but that was not my fate
Rick, Mum and Dad aren’t here yet, so I’ll wait
The old man left, and each family followed suit
Kid asked to go home, but we were ordered to stay put
One night turns to two and still I can’t sleep
Kid’s stomach growls but she doesn’t make a peep.
The water was calm, not a single wave broke
The silence was thicker than the smoke.
The third day I cry, in secret by a bush
Roxy whimpers and whines, kid tells her to shush
Charred leaves and ash fall onto the shore
They dance in the sand, a mix of black, white and grey
Kid speaks to the earth, “I’m sorry you’re sore”
That night I ask kid if she wants to sleep in her bed
I didn’t tell her I thought our parents are…
She looks at me and smiles
“Oh dear Charlie, don’t disobey, it’s unlike you to be so rash”
I ask her what she wants to do as it’s nearly eight
She throws a stick to Roxy and runs after her
I guess we’ll wait.
LOVE/HATE
I hate.
Myself, You, Things.
love and the pain that comes with it
the anxieties of living
the monotonous, the daily grind, the sameness
I hate the fear, the unknown, the looming certainty of the end.
I love.
Myself, You, Things.
the feeling of love, the invincibility, impervious against the darkness
the uncertainties for that is where the adventure lies
the simplicity, the subtle differences of each day as we grow
I love time, how we spend it, how we capture and validate each increment before it runs dry
Bass Writes 