Aussie Jackie French appreciates the value of writing to defuse psychological tensions (Join our competition to write a bushfire poem, 9/1). Her suggestion that bushfire-impacted children might benefit from this is worthy of praise. Powerful prose humanises and can restore hope to a country, repetitively battling the demons of nature. A forum to write poetry should prove insightful to those underestimating the trauma experienced by our children during bushfires. We may all be winners if the children of Australia embed their feelings into our literary legacy. Alan Sexton, North Parramatta 11Jan2021.