What was going on?

Remember the summer of 2019/20, when the farmers were desperate for rain; towns were running out of water; enormous numbers of fish died because their rivers ran out of water; the bush was getting dry as tinder and the birds and wildlife were dying of thirst and heatstroke?

Our political leaders were still denying the reality of climate change.

And then came the unprecedented bushfires, with the smoke that blanketed us for weeks and months.

Our devastating Black Summer.

The Emergency Leaders for Climate Action wanted to warn the Government of this impending disaster early in 2019, but the denying Prime Minister refused to meet with them, so we weren’t as prepared as we should have been.

When the fires were really bad and people were linking this with climate change, the Government told us that, if it really was a problem, we would just build up our resilience and get through it.

And when this climate problem didn’t seem to go away, it was suggested that we accept it as “the new normal”. 

Then it rained. 

And in some places flooded.   

These poems are dedicated to those who lived and died through Australia's climate-ravaged Black Summer of 2019-20.