Koala

Black smoke chokes me,

grey fur singed.

Small paws smouldering;

wide eyes sting.

Our homes in cinders,

charred debris.

New infants clinging,

forced to flee.

Each family raised here

now bereft,

With bush floors burning,

birth meets death.

So, instincts wary,

wild yet brave,

we trust in your kind

our own to save.

I wrote this poem and painted this watercolour after witnessing the devastation caused by the Australian bushfires. On its sale, the full cost of the painting was donated to the WWF's Australia Bushfire Emergency fund and my poem appears on the Supporter Care Wall in WWF UK's Head Office.

To make your own donation to the WWF's Australia Emergency fund, helping to care for and rehabilitate many of the one billion animals affected by the crisis, please click here. Thank you!