he said

well
I thought
I had enough
insurance

I’d covered the place
for more
than the cost
and I thought
for sure
that would be enough

but
it seems as though
it is never
quite as much
as you first thought

and
it seems as though
the costs
are always
more

the bank claimed
first
to get money back
for the mortgage

then
well
they change re-building rules
you know

just
to make things better

to make sure
houses in the bush
are built
much stronger
next time around

ha

ha
ha

as though
any kind of strong
could withstand
a fire
like this one was

anyway . . .

anyway . . .

I ended up
in debt again
then
I found my business
was in strife

no customers
no visitors

no tourists

for much too long

I had to leave it
behind

and the memories I hold

I came across this wonderful initiative this morning and felt the immediate wish to participate.

A group of authors has banded together to create a twitter auction for signed books or other ‘author’ objects, with proceeds going to the Victorian Country Fire Authority (see the relevant website here: https://authorsforfireys.wixsite.com/website ).

I haven’t done anything like this before, but very much want to support this effort with a signed copy (or more) of my free verse poetry memoir Small Town Kid.

The link to my offer on Twitter is here.

I would welcome interest and bidding for my book r any other author offered book or object. The Twitter hashtag to look over offerings from other authors is: #AUTHORSFORFIREYS

If there is interest, I’ll look at auctioning more. Haven’t done this before.

Please feel free to share or otherwise pass on information about the Auction. It’s one of the few…