The Pandanus Parable

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The Pandanus Parable

In the few weeks

that I have been away

our corner of the state

has received its entire annual rainfall

and more...

the dams are full

and the trees and plants 

are leaping greenly...

when I walked 

into the National Park 

this morning

I saw lush green

but it is not lush 

that I am going 

to tell you about today,

that is the content 

of a future post

Today

I want to tell you 

the Pandanus Parable

When I first moved to Noosa

many moons ago

if you had told me that 

pineapples grew on trees

I would have believed you

not knowing that they grow

in straight rows 

on the ground

like cabbages

but these fruit aren't pineapple

they are the fruit 

of the Pandanus tree

A few years ago

a terrible blight,

a virus,

spread down the Sunshine Coast

attacking all the Pandanus trees

and many

like the one above

lost their limbs

and their multiple heads

And it appeared as if 

the entire population of Pandanus 

was doomed

the Pandanus 

is a gorgeous tree

with a deeply textured 

chicken poxed trunk

and sweeping sculptural limbs 

that arc out over the ocean

and the blue skies

in striking architectural form

it grows along the walking track

in the rocks

precariously clings

to rocky escarpments

and has an amazing root system

the tree throws out

aerial roots

for support

and ballast

to brace itself 

against the prevailing wind

or to hold the trunk upright

on a sloping gradient

the pineapple like fruit

are found way out

on the end of a limb

from where the seeds 

are dropped by munching birds

like the cockatoo

or nibbled on 

by the marauding brush turkey,

when the fruit has fallen

to the ground

and a new plant

will spring up 

over time

today I noticed

that the forest 

was full 

of healthy pandanus trees

the trees had regenerated 

from their ordeal

after a period of endurance

and recovery

the trees are once again flourishing

the Pandanus parable

is a story of persistence

in the face of great odds

of tenacity and resilience

of stoicism and faith

of toughing it out 

and never giving up

It is a story 

of regeneration

regrowth 

and new life...

It is a triumph

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