I See You Standing: There And There (Villanelle)
by Jonatha Chance (February 2020)
In response to the devastating Australian bushfires.
CC-BY-NC 3.0


Catastrophe, I see you standing: there and there,
Watching as we burn, and choke, amid your smoke and flames.
I defy your damned intentions. I shall not cease to care.

The desperate flight of millions, caught unawares,
Your masterpiece of chaos destroys, kills, and maims.
Catastrophe, I see you standing: there and there.

Koalas cling and tremble upon sooty limbs midair
In Kangaroo Island’s ashen soil, unimaginable lost remains.
I defy your damned intentions. I shall not cease to care.

Flying foxes fall to earth, brilliant birds screech and cry: beware!
Of heat and of drought, of your cruelty and disdain.
Catastrophe, I see you standing: there and there.

We call it the Anthropocene, our era of despair
From consequence of easy progress unrestrained.
I defy your damned intentions. I shall not cease to care.

The rising of the Phoenix from destruction uncontained
Tempers my heart with a wayward hope, unexpected, unexplained.
Catastrophe, I see you standing: there and there.
I defy your damned intentions. I shall not cease to care.