Graeme Base, the wonderful Australian chilren's author and illustrator of such amazing books as The Waterhole and Animalia, wrote this beautiful poem about the Black Saturday bushfires.From the Shadows
A world of ashes leached of life.
The colours swept away.
A paradise lies lost beneath a shroud
Of ashen grey.
And yet in time the veil will fall.
The streams once more will flow,
And from the shadows ‘tween the trees
New life will surely grow.
Graeme Base
The Age 15th February 2009
You can purchase a copy of his illustration too. It's available from Fairfax photos, and all profits from the sale go to the Red Cross Bushfire Appeal 2009.
I'll be getting one.
This is a beautiful poem, isn't it.
ReplyDeleteMy colleague is teaching her adult literacy class in the room next door, reading through this poem with the group.
[spoiler] i really didn't see the koalas in the illustration until she told me.