by Duncan Richardson
Below in the creek
green pygmy geese twist
and sail past a long-necked turtle
resting on a rock,
A wallaby grazes nearby
pigeons bob among leaf litter
in the filtered light
like a painting by an old explorer.
Outside the wire
another pigeon pecks at a coke can
but the bus is waiting
I push open the double gates
of the walk-through aviary
shielding my eyes
from the chill glare
of concrete.