**Phoenix Appeal**

The ghosts of Gilderoy come galloping by
with swift and deadly moves
horses mounted and guns slung over
their saddles they ride straight and true

Just after southern Queensland was rocked by devistating floods the northern part now faces one of the biggest Cyclones in living memory!

The QLD Floods have been the worst ever – 75% of the state was declared a disaster zone – as Price Charles equated it “the size of France and Germany combined!”

Even on cold wet misty mornings
the bush is warm and colourful and home

Majestic in the fall from upper to lower
refreshing the air all around
Mighty is the roar of the falling water
as the river brings it on down

The music scene of Australia and around the world have gotten together in two cities to create the most awesome of Rock Benefit Concert >> “SOUND RELIEF”*

In the hush of the mist
nothing seems to stir
the low of a calf

Only the natives will burst into bloom
when fire destroys all else

But look!
Even with the loss of their luscious canopy
to issue forth Eucalyptus, the cleansing of the air

I am the silence
That weaves its way through the blackened sentinels
And binds them together in a tapestry of emptiness.
I am silence, the absence of sound
That creates a roar more frightening than what…

I dragged them out and up there and then I had to drag them back home again. Their world of convenience forgotten for the beauty and true life values of the High Country. I am so glad we went!

I feel muted; my one voice gagged and choking in my throat
I feel like my hands are tied and my feet plastered in cement
My soul screams out to help … LET ME JUST HELP THEM!!!!!

new day
new dawn
new life
given

Sparks fly on the wind
Igniting the trees
Death on the breeze
Run if you please

smoke filled skies
choke babies’ cries
when the roar fades
silence fills the glades

For those wrongs committed
on summer hell fire days.

The night’s ablaze with the smell of eucalypt
Forests being raped of all their history
Homes destroyed, families murdered
One whole town nearly wiped from the surface

Of the earth, it’s a cr…

For the residents who return to rebuild their towns
Chookas!