Old Black Grandpa Cockatoo,
Sculled slowly ���cross the sky.
And he filled that smokey valley,
With his shrill and lonely cry.

Where once stood lush and teeming bush,
Now smoking sticks of char.
White ash and death lay all around,
The land as black as tar.

And there below the homestead,
With her walls now caving in.
Smoke rising ghostly through the pile,
Of smouldering beams and tin.

A breeze picked up the ashes,
And scattered them around.
Where molten glass and steel,
Had flowed like lava o�۪er the ground.

Silently they stood there,
Where their old front door had been.
With sullen faces, spirit numb,
From all that they had seen.

The house that they had made their home,
Had all but memory left.
Her eyes were red and swollen,
His spirit now bereft.

She sat upon an oil tin,
That had scarce survived the heat.
And she slowly raked the ashes,
That were thick beneath her feet.

A glint of white ceramic,
Poked through the powdered grey.
She reached down and raised her teapot,
From ash to light of day.

Tears fell upon the memory,
Of her Grandma�۪s dainty hands.
That long ago had held that pot,
And thought it rather grand.

So quietly she sobbed,
As she clutched it to her breast.
She had saved that phoenix teapot,
Though the fire stole the rest.

Her husband picked his path,
Through the debris of his life.
His heart weighed down and heavy,
At the sobbing of his wife.

And there amongst the ruin,
He found the carcass grim.
Of a charred and rotting possum,
Buried there beneath the tin.

And he cursed in darkened humour,
At that foul and gruesome sight,
���Well I Guess that bloody possum,
Won�۪t be both�۪ring us tonight!�۝

She looked up and wiped her tears,
And let half a smile free,
���Well we may not have a possum love,
But we can have a cup of tea!�۝

And in that moment something shifted,
As their eyes gave spark of hope.
Cos they knew that with each other,
Through this trial they�۪d surely cope!

And high above the homestead,
That ancestor graceful flew.
Yes that ���Yellow Tailed Black�۝,
Called out his hope of life anew.