Didn’t like the first bit, cause it felt more like an announcement than a story, like a blogpost and not a narrative. But you pulled it around by the end to be a thought-provoking sort of thing instead. Sorry to hear about the burning. Better to stay out of the news, I’ve always thought.

I’ve been thinking recently about creative non-fiction writing — an essay in the form of a poem, for example.

I think this could qualify. It’s neither didactic nor a flight of fancy.

Great story. The entire thing was stirring, but the line about somebody else’s world drowning turned my stomach. I really hope you are doing okay. :)

I don’t think a person can comment on someone’s misery. It’s a sad consequence of this world.

True. We had a flood in my town a few years ago, which is a rare occurrence. I hardly watch the news because it is so sad or shocking. I will not be desensitized!

To see your home town on the national news is very strange. There are videos of policemen blockading streets that I drive down every day and pictures of fire threatening the building which my mum works in.

I’m very lucky where I am, my house is ok, it’s only the damage to the town infrastructure that really effects me to be honest.

But it made me think of the catastrophic flooding going on in Queensland (in Australia) and now the earthquakes in New Zealand. A lot of people have died in those disasters. If fortunes were reversed, any one us could be a number read out by a news reporter.

I’m not trying to be morbid, but it was a bit of a wake up call, you know?