2020

The kangaroo had no inclination
nor the emu
that not walking backwards
might be an impediment to escape,
and that their forward trajectory was
quickly enveloping them
into a smoky dreaming from which
ever forward, there was no return.
Skippy and Emu
along with Cuddlepot and Snugglepie
joyfully sewed pyroclastic fuel
into the hopeful, abundant landscape and
danced us oblivious into the sunburnt country.
Impatient Bill the steam shovel saw nothing,
but even that gentle man from the moon,
who always saw what no one could, didn’t see
the lucky country’s luck running out.

                                                        — Andrew Lee