ABPA - Australian Bush Poets Association

Hope your relocating is all going well, Maureen. The current prompts certainly pointed towards our recent battles with Cyclone Debbie here in Queensland - so I've taken this approach to the weather event that we've faced - and the like of which we will no doubt face again.

INDOMITABLE SPIRIT
(c) Shelley Hansen 21/4/17

That "eye in the sky" had a rip-roaring time
causing havoc all down the east coast,
after temperatures hotter than reason or rhyme
left us feeling like bits of burnt toast!

The drought became flood in a moment so brief
as the cyclone clouds blotted the sun,
and quickly we found that disaster relief
was assigned to "Priority One".

Mud armies appeared as the waters went down -
well-equipped and efficiently geared
to scrub inundation from city and town
where encroaching thick wetness had smeared.

This land of extremes calls for courage and grit,
and when faced with a deluge of rain
we just come out fighting, take hold of the bit
and rebuild lives and houses again.

Watching the home makeover sow tonight and the team are battling Cyclone Debbie to finish the Gold Coast garden ... that seems so long ago but in reality only a matter of a few weeks - you captured her well.

Thank you Maureen - yes it does seem ages ago (though probably not to those still battling with the rebuild).