i wish i could wish like i did back then

we can't see the stars anymore.

not when it's clouded with smog and ash, and in the clear light of our phones there is more truth than hope.

mallacoota is so red, so dark, you can barely see the people hiding.

if you don't look, it's like they're not even there at all.

teen activists are discarded - they're just emotional, you know how young people get about things they're passionate about, it'll all blow over in a few months. the naysayers choose to ignore the panel of scientists standing behind them, sitting beside them - facts are inscrutable. and while ignorance and indifference are two different things, neither move our country forward.

dozens are dying, even just from the air alone. pray for rain, say the foreigners, not knowing that the land we stand on would rather commit climate suicide to rid herself of the pests that dredged through her skin and bones looking for more resources to sell. our higher powers would rather kill a country to make a profit than do what's right.

i'm no natural-born leader. but these are no natural-born catastrophes. so maybe man-made courage is what we need right now. to bring a starry sky back. so we can hope again.