by ANDREW HEDE

gnarled branches
in arthritic poses –
old man banksia

after the bushfire –
a scarred bottlebrush dead
until the spring rain

strangler fig
replaces its host tree –
stealthily

insect etchings
on a silk-smooth trunk –
scribbly gum

blackboy bush
with central spear upright –
silent sentinel

a row of sheoaks
all along the river –
rippling reflections

western red cedar –
a hundred-and-ten rings
on a fresh-hewn stump

green saplings
in a blue-gum forest –
small beginnings