After the Fires, Koalas
After the fires, koalas
run to people who offer water,
drink eagerly,
allow themselves to be handled,
taken away in soft bags
(or one woman’s shirt
hastily doffed)
for rescue: their burnt feet
ointmented and bandaged
or put into bootees
especially knitted.
They may not know
what long-term human failings
caused the raging flames
destroying so many of them,
so much of their habitat –
but how wondrous they do know
individuals they encounter
or who approach
can be trusted utterly
to offer help. How good
that they are right.
WORDY FRIDAY WITH WILD WOMAN:
STAYING STRONG IN A WORLD OF CLIMATE CRISIS
(Images: Fair use.)
I liked reading this. It reminds me of the kindness of individuals.
ReplyDeleteThe majority of individuals, I still believe.
DeleteI, too, am moved that the koalas trust humans to help them. Their plight has really touched my heart, poor little creatures in a burning world.
ReplyDeleteTheir numbers were already dwindling from loss of habitat, road kill and so on. Very sad!
DeleteAs U.S children's television host Mister Rodgers once said, "Look for the helpers." In every tragedy, you'll see them there, giving hope to the hurt in body and spirit. Thank goodness for people who haven't let cynicism eclipse their motivation to help.
ReplyDeleteA wonderful reminder, Rommy.
DeleteSuch a touching poem - I love the care and tenderness in those knitted booties
ReplyDeleteSome people are sewing them too, of old flannelette sheets (nice and soft).
DeleteYes, it's good that there are those among us who can feel the pain of other living creatures, and who react instinctively out of compassion--our saving grace as a species perhaps, is that we are all individuals, not some hive mind that only works for our own supremacy...not to laud humans too much or evade our responsibility for these devastating changes our planet is undergoing, but your poem soothes the burned spots in our hearts tho nothing may heal them, as we look at what we have left. It's also good when a poem can make us feel better, as this one does. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad the poem does that. It is true that, collectively, we are careless, greedy, uncaring.... The unfortunate paradox is that (I think) we can only make serious changes collectively.
DeleteRosemary, the trust that these poor innocent Koalas placing in humanity, as their saviours, has left me, crying. Considering that we, humanity, have created these conditions, in the first place. I just hope that Australia's wildfires don't wipe out any endangered species, due to humanity's greed. Thank you, for sharing this.
ReplyDeleteI hope so too!
DeleteWe certainly have no right to own their gratitude, having burned them out of everything they know -- but singular human gestures of kindness are the only strength we now possess. Well done.
ReplyDeleteI think it is just amazing that they run towards and not away from us in these circumstances. Is it a collective consciousness – are they aware that individuals and small groups of us have, over a long period, tended to feel affectionate towards these particular creatures, and have tried to look after them? (Although en masse it is of course a different story.)
DeleteI’ve been reading about the koalas and watching the footage on TV. A very old friend of mine, who moved to Australia in the early eighties, lives just outside Sydney. She seems to be safe so far, but I know how worried she is about the wildlife. How true the second stanza!
ReplyDeleteI can't watch the koala videos.. even to imagine the horror causes me mental fatigue, but i am so grateful to know that there are stories with good people and happy endings. The fires of Australia and the Amazon in 2019 are a most dire warning that the next decade is already in crisis.
ReplyDeleteI'm just sitting here saying WOW over and over.
ReplyDeleteMy heart is breaking for all those creatures. I'm glad there are those who are present to help them.
ReplyDelete