Blog #1: Venturing into the Storm

Welcome to my first blog entry! After having a browse of the suggested topics for discussion and letting them percolate in my brain for a while, I decided upon this prompt to ease into it –

CREATIVE– Which poem or story that we have looked at so far made an impression on you? What was the impression it made?  Can you imitate the poem or story and create your own poem or story drawing on your own personal experience.

Whilst going through the readings for week 2 I found myself enraptured by Xavier Herbert’s description of the sheer presence and power of the land in Capricornia. I cannot claim to have encountered the full fury of the onslaught of the wet season in far northern Australia, but it was a vivid reminder of the last time I experienced Nature’s full majesty in this ancient rugged country.

On the last day in 2018, New Year’s Eve, I found myself in the Hunter Valley on my grandparent’s farmstead with my extended family, planning to enjoy the Maitland fireworks. But nature had other plans for us and we ended up watching some of the most impressive ‘fireworks’ I’ve seen:

Clothing danced frantically in the wind, their stilted, jerky motions a desperate plea for succour from the encroaching storm as the sky began to darken. Frantic arms plucked them from the line, haphazardly casting them into disparate piles, the cries of separated woollen twins stifled by the linen above.

And not a moment too soon! A hush fell over the land, as all was still and quiet. Save the soft call of the wind, growing louder and more strident as it heralded to the fury to come. A demure murmur sounded in the distance. It went from a whisper, to a mutter, to a gurgle, to a ponderous rumble, to a reverbing, thunderous roar, as the sky itself churned and convulsed, a sea forming in the realms above to descend upon the earth and bury it in the deluge. The Sun fled before their passage, dragging his light with him. As they drifted above, clouds delivered their payload as the bays were opened. With a hiss the droplets plunged, down, down, down to shatter and spatter on the land below, sluicing down in a thicket no eye could pierce. Ice ferociously pounded on metal, a sharp harsh pattern playing out a staccato tune on tin rooves.

Lightning descended, rapacious fingers greedily scrabbling to find the nearest purchase in the earth. Night became day, and for the briefest of moments all was cast in stark relief, elation mixed with trepidation etched on to each face. There was a thunderous crack, as though the very heavens were being breached. The land shook, as if from the awakening of some ancient, primal beast clambering free from its shackles, which triumphantly begun to roar, the rumble of its lungs reverberating over and over. With a whimper the feeble lines of electricity travelling on wires below shivered and died in its presence, the diminutive lights they breathed fading with them. The tang of ozone wafted in the air. And still the land was bright as day, the blinding white light extending and retracting with each of the beast’s calls as it coalesced above, majestic and petrifying in equal measure. Gathered to its full height, it gazed down upon the denizens gathered below. The beast roared with conviction, its voice crackling and thundering.

“Your fireworks are but sparks and sputters in the wind. Behold! I shall produce the grandest pyrotechnics you could ever hope to perceive.”

No one was inclined to dispute its claim…

As a bit of shameless self-promotion, I contribute to another word press blog where we endlessly discuss Lord of the Rings and playing with toy soldiers. Check it out if the mere thought of that doesn’t immediately put you to sleep! https://greycompanyrangers.wordpress.com/category/middle-earth/

Burgess, Becky. “Thunder in the Hunter.” NBN News, NBN News, 1 Jan. 2019, http://www.nbnnews.com.au/2019/01/01/photo-gallery-new-years-eve-lightning/.