Putting out fires < Melinda J. Irvine

wet skies
falling over
burnt bits of land

My Uncle Richard emailed me his latest watercolour a few days ago — inspired by the “water, wet skies and bits of land” (he told me) of the NSW New England. Yet all my mind could see was (now) bare granite and the blackened foliage of what was once forest . There have been terrible bushfires around the Tingha area not far from where he lives (I’d read about it online, from here, all the way away in the Philippines) and his painting took me straight to a place I had walked so many times — collecting early spring wattle and listening for birds. I felt a little sad.

It’s always interesting when you put your work out there — poetry, writing, paintings, songs. Whatever meaning you may have intended, they get hijacked as soon as the reader/listener/viewer gets a hold of it. And I don’t even know if my beloved Goonoowigal Conservation Area was even touched by those flames, maybe my glass is just half-empty from putting out too many bushfires.

Melinda J. Irvine

Melinda J. Irvine is a freelance writer, blogger and creative. She writes for business clients and online publications all over the world. When she’s not writing about holistic health and ways to become a more effective writer, Mel is practicing tai chi and supporting the emotional wellbeing of marginalised kids in the Philippines. Sometimes she even has time to cross stitch.

Home » Blog » Poetry » Little Poems » Haiku » Putting out fires

Putting out fires

2 responses to “Putting out fires”