late september sunday afternoon

eucalyptus blossom

            roast lamb in the air

I jimmy open the side gate

            smothered with heraldic wattle
            and passing through the sunlit

thick yellow

            mottled in lorikeet and native hue

here comes the fledgling message bringer

            sis’ sings
            whole-hearted welcomes

niece in arm

            swapping bub for apple crumble

she lands a kiss and nips

            off for a well-deserved moment
            I follow

the chubby-cheeked sovereign’s felicitous

            footsteps across the yard path

and the colours of my day

            are complete as I eye
            defenders

nephews uniformed as proud pirates

            constructing humpies from hard-rubbish

our black-yellow-reds flying

            an insurgence of love 
            and before us with us

watching from the garden’s heartland

            covered head-to-toe in mud

nightgown and full makeup on

            grandma exudes a deep-time elegance 
            humming her sweet sundown music

amongst veggies

            suspiciously strong

a ritual increase a flowering

            synonymous with poetry
            front and back this flash Gadigal

hill-top double brick dream home

            so far from her stucco beginnings

where now in the twilight hours

            of a tired nation
            I invoke the old art

of making fire

            and plot tender revolutions

with the future custodians

            of our little grassroots empire