Memory under a Bunya Pine
I stare at gigantic cones No, I have never seen these before Though I have walked These meadows For many a year I hear a chuckle The Bunya pines laugh – Your many years Are only a second In the eternity of our times Indeed, they have been here Since Jurassic times On this Farm itself For centuries now (While we, how do we compare? We, who never belonged To any country lands Moving on, year after year In search of a little hope, Some love and sustenance) I look up at their straggly heads Then below, at durian pines And wonder Why do I feel a light of joy? When they speak again You perhaps have been here before As an Elder of an ancient land The fruiting season A festival for your tribe Food, pine nuts and that is enough To celebrate The essence of life Something you’ll have lost Except sometimes, as these A tendril memory from aeons past I touch a pi...
