Firestorm

Everyone I speak to feels shaken by the terrible firestorms that hit Victoria a few days ago. Those of us who live in forested areas may be feeling more worried and more vulnerable than those who live in the city, but I have the feeling that the whole community, the whole country even, is in mourning. I feel shocked and numbed by the pictures and sounds of destruction and horror that I've read in the newspapers, and seen on TV and heard on the radio. Sometimes I cannot look at another photograph, or hear another report or watch vision of burnt out landscapes. The scale of human suffering is immense. Nor must we forget the suffering of animals, birds and other sentient beings. This tragedy close to home also reminds us of the suffering of others in wars where burning people with bombs is actually intended!

We turn to each other to test our feelings and to put them into words that we exchange. We turn to the poets, writers and artists of all kinds to hear what they can say for us, what visions emerge from the ashes. I remembered this poem by Marie E. J. Pitt, a Victorian woman who was born near Bairnsdale in 1869 and grew up on a farm there.

A Gallop of Fire

When the north wind moans through the blind creek courses
And revels with harsh, hot sand,
I loose the horses, the wild, red horses
I loose the horses, the mad, red horses,
And terror is on the land.

With prophetic murmur the hills are humming,
The forest-kings bend and blow;
With hoofs of brass on the baked earth drumming,
O brave red horses, they hear us coming,
And the legions of Death lean low.

O'er the wooded height, and the sandy hollow
Where the boles to the axe have rung,
Though they fly the foeman as flies the swallow,
The fierce red horses, my horses, follow
With flanks to the faint earth flung.

Or with frenzied hieroglyphs, fear embossing
Night's sable horizon bars,
Through tangled mazes of death-darts crossing,
I swing my leaders and watch them tossing
Their red manes against the stars.

But when South winds sob in the drowned creek courses
And whisper to hard wet sand,
I hold the horses, the spent red horses,
I hold the horses, the tired red horses,
And silence is on the land.

Yea, the South wind sobs 'mong the drowned creek courses
For sorrows no man shall bind-
Ah, God! for the horses, the black plumed horses,
Dear God! for the horses, Death's own pale horses,
That raced in the tracks behind.

Learning more

When I wrote my poem about Benazir Bhutto I read books about her and about Pakistan. There are three books well worth reading that I can recommend.

The first is Benazir Bhutto's autobiography 'Daughter of the East'. It was first published in 1988 and is available in paperback published in 2007, the year Benazir was assassinated. The book ends with an update on Benazir's return to Pakistan in 2007. She acknowledges the dangers that she faces and quotes one of her heroes, Dr. Martin Luther King, as an inspiration for her determination to continue as a political leader:
'Our lives begin to end the day we remain silent on things that matter,'
Benazir was certainly not one who chose to remain silent and the autobiography traces the influences and great events that shaped her.

On the morning of her assassination Benazir finished the final edits of her new book 'Reconciliation- Islam, Democracy, and the West'. (Pub. 2008, Simon & Schuster) In it she defends her faith against politicisation and exploitation by extremists and fanatics. She looks at the history of the Muslim countries as she argues the question is Islam incompatible with democracy? She does not back away from pointing to many faults within Muslim countries but also points out that:
'The so-called incompatibility of Islam and democratic governance is used to divert attention from the sad history of Western political intervention in the Muslim world, which has been a major impediment to the growth of democracy in Islamic nations.'
This 'sad history' is discussed in relation to a number of specific countries across the world. The history of Pakistan is covered at length.

For another view on the history of Pakistan I read 'Frontline Pakistan' by Zahid Hussain, the Pakistan correspondent for 'The Times' of London, the 'Wall Street Journal' and 'Newsweek'. (Pub. 2008, Tauris & Co.) Based on interviews, newspaper reports and agency reports and investigations, the book gives a clear indication of the forces that have made Pakistan into a volatile and dangerous place on the front line of war between the West and al-Qaeda.

Reading these books has made me better informed about the politics and history of Pakistan, a country that will continue to play a major role in the future of our world and the struggle for a peaceful planet. Each of them was available for loan from my local library.