Ferry ride to Watsons Bay, Sydney Harbour.
Bottlebrush trees in Perth, Western Australia.
Bottlebrush Trees
Turn off the street lights
we don’t need them.
It’s October, it’s spring
and the callistemon shines.
The rows of knobby buds
on the stems of dull green trees
have burst, each inflorescence
large and cylindrical
with stamens and anthers
the red thin spikes
the filaments of
bright shining crimson globes.
Hundreds of shrubs and trees
stand by the roadsides and fences
railways and walls
along footpaths
and in parks.
These bright red jewels
hang in clusers
lighting our way
heralding the summer sun and
turning our quiet suburbs
into a red light city.
Copyright Sandra Roe
A blue billed duck at Perth Zoo, Western Australia.
Our Loving Nature
We love nature so much
we have to better it.
Skyscrapers are our termite mounds
factories our beehives.
Banks are our queen bees
who prosper on our lives.
We love trees so much
we herd them into parks and gardens.
Those allowed on the street
have bitumen around their feet.
We love animals so much
we take their habitat
and peer at them in zoos.
We burrow like wombats
but as they seek shelter
we seek treasure
we toil through soil
with trucks, tractors, earthmovers.
Our superpits are so vast
they alter the climate.
Like the tiniest bird
we love to travel the world
migrate between every continent
but our wings are bigger and stronger
made of steel.
We worship pure water, fresh and salt
we live by water
we walk by water
we move by water
and we feed it our dregs.
Those before us strode softly
for forty thousand years
but we stamp on Australia
with bitumen, concrete, roads and bridges
our rivers of cars flow
across the coastal plain.
Copyright Sandra Roe
On Election Day
Let’s give worms the vote
blind but smart
they’ve been digging holes
longer than we have.
Let’s give elephants the vote
their wisdom comes in huge doses
hear their say on ivory.
Let’s give dogs the vote
loyal and obedient
tails held high
dogs don’t lie.
Let’s give spiders the vote
their webs don’t cover our eyes.
Let’s give honeyeaters the vote
upbeat and swift
they don’t disappoint.
Let’s give magpies the vote
their songs and joy raise the day
and promise more.
Copyright Sandra Roe
Elements of Sydney Harbour
Sun sparks water
blue molten gold
around headland fingers
forged by the sky.
Roe Pix & Poems 