Shelter
by Merilyn Nishitha, Swan Hill College
Years 11 – 12 Written Poetry Finalist
Through the whispers of the shrivelled gum trees that
line the river bank standing as
old guardians keeping watch over the thrumming water since ancient times
Through the gentle rustle of their leaves
Hidden in the hollow knots of their wooden hearts,
A thousand iridescent wings beat in unison
Their jet black bodies shimmer with a metallic sheen,
As they hum in the silence filled lazy, sunny afternoons
In the quiet suddenly a haze of white crowns the blue sky
fluttering wings and cackling beaks
“Caw, Caw”, they screech
Lining the gum trees then diving again
A dance of nature
Fiercely primal
Fiercely alive
Within the silence of the night,
In the darkness a shrill pierces the glum
The cicadas speak in the summer
Their mouths humming a foreign tune
Their voices like a wave carry through the bush,
To the unacquainted human who sits pondering
Created by the mother,
Hollow caves of polished stone
A curlew calls through the granite boulders
Echoing in the distance,
The red earth groans and vibrates to the beat of
Old ceremonies and sacred dances that thrum,
The wind rushes through the hollows, crooks and old timber
Voices that chant
Voices that hum
Voices that utter stories of the past.
Sheltered in the haven of the mangrove trees
In the salty waters that gently lap against scattered white shells and hardened roots
“Click Clack” their pincers move in unison
Hungry sentinel crabs move through the mud
As the water recedes like a predator eying the prey,
Watchful, waiting, patient
Beyond the shoreline,
Where the waves lovingly caress the rocks,
In the depths of the big blue wide free relentless unchartered seas,
The creatures of the deep
They sing songs
They make music
As they hunt through the deep blue waters that “boom” and “thump”
And it’s the time trodden rugged plains
the chanting of the voices that sets fire to the vein
It’s the call of the haze of birds fluttering on the horizon
And the incessant whispers and growls of the creatures that hunt the nights and prowl the days
The land, the wind, the sea, the trees
They call to me
They cry to me
To leave the land of the sullen gray
And find shelter in mother nature’s arms once again.