A Zoo in the Forest

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There's a whole zoo
in the rainforest




Besides the creatures
that we are accustomed to seeing:

the koalas
carpet snakes
brown snakes
frill neck lizards
lace monitors
whip birds
kookaburras
rampant turkeys
and a host of twittering birds

I have also noticed

leopards

and crocodiles






zebras










elephants

more leopards

and more scaly crocodiles

hairy monsters

and even an underwater world





The rainforest park
has come alive-
It is wild
with life...

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Such Singing

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Such Singing...

I often stop in my tracks
to listen to a bird singing
in the forest,
on the river
or at home across the creek
and I let myself enter
the song, melt into
the sunlight,
dissolve into the breeze
and merge
with the tune,
if only for a moment...














I can't believe
I have gone my entire life
without knowing Mary Oliver
Yet it seems as if she has
always been at my side
been my mentor - in absentia
if that is possible

Not that I want to be a poet
although I would love
to weave words well
but rather, I want to take her lead
and learn to completely
lose myself,
to yield,
to lose myself in leaves
in birdsong, in the glinting river
and trembling forest
to lose myself in sun
and wind
and rain,
in life

if only for a moment...















Such Singing in the Wild Branches - Mary Oliver



It was spring
and finally I heard him
among the first leaves—
then I saw him clutching the limb

in an island of shade
with his red-brown feathers
all trim and neat for the new year.
First, I stood still

and thought of nothing.
Then I began to listen.
Then I was filled with gladness—
and that's when it happened,

when I seemed to float,
to be, myself, a wing or a tree—
and I began to understand
what the bird was saying,

and the sands in the glass
stopped
for a pure white moment
while gravity sprinkled upward

like rain, rising,
and in fact
it became difficult to tell just what it was that was singing—
it was the thrush for sure, but it seemed

not a single thrush, but himself, and all his brothers,
and also the trees around them,
as well as the gliding, long-tailed clouds
in the perfectly blue sky— all, all of them

were singing.
And, of course, yes, so it seemed,
so was I.
Such soft and solemn and perfect music doesn't last

for more than a few moments.
It's one of those magical places wise people
like to talk about.
One of the things they say about it, that is true,

is that, once you've been there,
you're there forever.
Listen, everyone has a chance.
Is it spring, is it morning?

Are there trees near you,
and does your own soul need comforting?
Quick, then— open the door and fly on your heavy feet; the song
may already be drifting away








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Moss on Stones

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Moss on Stones

on the shady road
a splash of verdant green light
brings me to a halt

the greenly green moss
draped over the low stone wall
feels soft like velvet

soft and springy moss
gently caresses cold stones
bringing life and warmth

reaching to the light
thousands of tiny fern plants
weave into a rug

a road in the bush
uneven stacks of grey stones
clad in emerald robes

attending gym class
may be onerous, but yields
a hidden blessing




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Rainy Night

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Rain Again...

It rained all yesterday
and extremely heavily overnight
so that schools in the SE Queensland area
were closed today
for fear of further rain and winds
and flooding

By early afternoon
the rain has ceased
blue skies crept back
and little creeks were running
down beside those steps

and even underneath those steps...

The sound of running water
took me back
to the Japanese countryside

But the skyline
was still distinctly Australian

The universe knows
that I am always on the look out
for a koala within close proximity
to snap for you...

Part way up the steps a young woman
coming from the opposite direction stopped
and said, "Are you looking for a koala?"

To which I replied,
"That I am."
And she gave me the directions.
I took 'the path less travelled'
to the eucalyptus tree
But alas I could not find him...

But I did see these beautifully
frosted tree trunks





And a rotting log
with limey green moss

The rain run-off cascaded
down the path edges

creating little washouts
and tumbles of rocks

then collecting in all sorts of receptacles.


It was a solitary walk:
just me
a single frog croaking,
one bird piping ,
and a sole cicada's shrill call...

But it was not lonely...

I crested the brow of the hill,
to a heavenly smell
of damp earth, wet vegetation and eucalypts
which rose up from the valley facing east

and followed me
as I made my way down to the ocean

passing by the Rubber trees
and their leafy occulus

looking at the sky
from an insect's perspective...

And on my way around the edge of the park
on the ocean boardwalk
high in a gum tree
I did find you another butt...

A Koala butt,
so far away his furry face
through the gum leaves
is a trifle fuzzy -

but still adorable...




Post Script: For those of you in Qld and Northern NSW who are wondering about the weather variations I wrote this story yesterday, after the rains had abated. Today the sun shone brightly. Tomorrow we expect more rain...



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It's been a B..... of a Day

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Today has been a B..... of a day.

It all began with butts...

Just look at the size of this butt.

"Does my butt look big in this forest?"
Certainly does, the biggest I have ever seen.

One whopping great butt

When my children were in Year 10 at high school, about 16 years of age , they each in turn spent an entire month with the school classes of that year at a camp in the town of Black Butt.

Black Butt is colourfully named after the remnants of forest when a fire has raged its way through.

The Outdoor education camp was called Googa, and there they cooked, cleaned, washed for themselves and learned orienteering, survival skills, abseiling, horse riding, gardening and maintenance work, high ropes courses, camped out for a few days unsupervised and even completed solo 24 periods out in the bush. They were also encouraged to meditate, journal and to create entertainment for themselves.

Image from Googa Outdoor Education Centre

The goals of the educational retreat are for the students to better understand their relationship to the physical and biological world within which they live; to develop initiative and self reliance; to develop a sense of co-operation, interdependence and community spirit as well as self expression; and to deepen their spiritual lives.

The month long camp had a profound effect on all of the children. There is a total ban on junk food, mobile phones, no TV or electronics at all and only one family visit over the time spent away. They learn how to write letters and some of those letters, bemoaning deprivation and hard work, complaining of homesickness and distasteful cooking now belong in my treasure archive. The Googa experience was an invaluable and indelible part of my children's school education.

Look what is growing on the back of the enormous butt...
monstrous carbuncles!

curly yellow carbuncle fungi

and burnt pancake dinner- plate sized carbuncles

From butts the day progressed to Boots

This clay caked pair of my Beloved's Boots
have been leaning against the garage door
for a few days drying out

They have repeatedly beckoned me
to snap them and tired of their constant badgering
I finally acquiesced

Not content with one photographic memento
of their time sloshing around on a wet building site,
they jumped around the driveway
out to the sunny nature strip

and nestled alongside the ginger plants
under the Golden Canes

While berating the bouncing Boots
I brought the garbage bin in from the road side
and spied at the neighbour's driveway
a bountiful, blooming Bougainvillea

Of the most vibrant hue of red
and you probably wouldn't believe me
if I told you
that this variety of bougainvillea is called Mrs Butt,
so I won't because Mrs Butt is more crimson in colour

and you will doubt me when I tell you
that the owner of the home goes by the name of Butt,
which, cross my heart, he does...


(I myself am a little bemused at this point
as I have only just thought of those last two Butts
whilst writing this page.)

Yep, it sure has been
a B of a day

Beautiful,

Bewitching,

and just simply ...


Bonzer

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