Around here, we cry 'there's a tree down!'
Like it's a war, and we're expecting help
The wind rushes from the south, the gardens blown
Over from neat suburbia to a noman's land, a chaos
Of fallen gums, broken fences & trapped cars.

We lost two - one weakened by wiggling borers
The other by wet ground, unable to hold on
Chainsaws sound all day as politicians similarly fall
One drunkenly drives into a fence - his own storm
Ending in resignation. Corruption is rife
The foundations are weak - like trees, they topple.

We're all in a state of emergency - crying
Help, whilst everything is falling.

^{Tree down after a storm in Victoria, 2020 Image Source}

Ah, 2021's been a year, hasn't it? Last week we experienced the windiness storm we've weathered since we've been in this house, where we were hammered by 100km an hour gusts. Thank goodness the plum trees sheltered the polytunnel somewhat, and the forest next door broke up the worst of it. We only lost two trees - one to an insect called a borer that weakens the tree, and the other because the ground was so wet that it just toppled over. In other suburbs, people fared worse - social media was full of calls for help to clean up and the SES was working hard to clean up roads, as well as the power companies being busy with power outages.

And In Other News...

The toppling trees made me think today about various corrupt politicians being called out over the last few months, or their double standards of behaviour. Liberal opposition leader Tim Smith stepped down for driving his car into a fence whilst over the limit, the NSW state premier stepped down over corruption charges, and on it goes. We seem to turn a blind eye to what goes on before our very eyes (something Orwell criticised, although we still haven't learnt from history - the pigs are still in the beds with the better sheets, the whiskey and the mash whilst the rest of us suffer) - and it keeps happening. We have short memories and a reluctance to engage with toppling down a structure that is only serving those at the very top.

What to do? Tidy up the garden, and wait for the next storm. Because of course the powers that be aren't responsible for climate change either, are they? Don't worry - buy keep cups and recycle. Perhaps that will offset private jets, second homes, rockets and satellites, which of course are written off as guilty pleasures or contributions to mankind.

No one is saving us from anything. We're in it together, or not at all. Given what the 1 percent are doing - or not doing - most days I think we're pretty fucked.