Comfort Into Ash Poem by Samantha Viles

When I’m lonely or glad
Happy or sad
I walk down to the creek and climb the tall tree.

As I sit up above
I lie back and look
I see the bright coloured birds and the swaying of the trees
I see leaves of many kinds moving with the wind
I feel the cold breeze slap across my face
And I hear the soothing song of the song birds
They are singing,
Oh so happily.

I imagine myself flying,
Freely
With all of my bird friends
Just flying around,
Until the day ends
But I know that can’t happen
So I just watch and stare
Looking up at the sky
Plating my hair.

I listen to the songs
And listen to the creek
Drifting away into deep sleep
The creek flows calmly
And the fish start to play
A bird comes to rest
And keeps at bay
I sing to the bird and it starts to fall silent
And when I finish my song everything goes quiet

Then all at once
All the birds start to sing
It’s a pretty little tune
Nothing different about it
‘Cause it’s the song I just sang
And they just had to sound it,
I sing the lyrics
And they hum the tune
And we all sing
Until the moon

I sing many songs
Mainly songs of sorrow
And I can’t wait,
To come back tomorrow.
For the rest of the day
I just listen and sing
Just listen to the melody
And the flapping of a wing
I look at the scenery
Just one last time
Trapping it all
Into my mind

I remember the water
Glistening and bright
Shimmering colours
In the bright night.
I remember the birds
Blue, red and green
The most spectacular birds
I’ve ever seen

That’s what I miss,
Most of all
Because now all I see,
Is a great big wall.
A wall of fire and smoke,
That took away my home
And now I feel trapped
In a small dome.

All I have now are the memories
And I will never forget
Cause I will always fight
Always remember
Never think about the embers.
The flames that took my friends and home away
Could never be controlled in any way

I always think about the times that I had
Looking at the stream, not doing any bad.
The smoke was so thick
And the fire was so hot
Burning down everything
Burning the lot

Now I will never see,
That happy place again
And all I now have left inside of me
Is a fiery, torn heart that will never mend


By Samantha Viles