I sit transfixed under my
favourite gum tree
in the middle of my garden,
quiet, reassured, humbled,
as the bark sits at my
feet with the leaves
and the gum,
grand in stature, serene,
unyielding, looks over the scene
as its species has always done
for uncountable years,
shading the bush,
sheltering animals,
becoming a place, a resource,
for Nations here long before me,
and I am still with these thoughts
beneath this shedding tree whittling
and witting
away time that never seems to end.

 

10/6/2026