in the place where I began, many arms

now broad and twisted

                                            high crown overlooking all
but the tallest siblings of smooth-barked apple,

rough-barked grey gum
surrounded by cliff and rock:

my protector, my tormentor
                                                                   upper limbs bathe

in sunlight, roseate skin uncloaked

beneath darker peelings
visitors both subtle and loud pass through

                                                                                      three claws and two

                                                                                      two legs and four
intermittent avian chatter

                                                  a silent white moth

wings folded at rest
steeled claws following forked reptile tongue
ribbed capsules mingle

with a neighbour’s clusters of seven gumnuts:

                                                       seven cups of blossom erupt beneath

                                                       seven pointed caps
surge of sap through xylem and phloem
leaf-drum

                    of distant thunder
a trickle of rain over curved spines, sweeping freshness

into the bark litter

                                    that gathers softly at our base
runnels of sweet water

                                            pool around the furthest roots