The cattle grid jolted him back; it was where the green

Tree snake coiled itself like a stowed garden hose around

The railway iron & they refused to cross, the gap of fear

Too great. An Apostlebird greeted his return, its grey fantail

Spread in an elegant bow, its harsh voice he inherited; purely

Environmental. Lousy Jacks his mother called them, as their

Disciples slapped mud huts onto the trunks of black wattle.

He grew in a bedroom the colour of prickly pear & it became

His favourite colour; frog his schoolyard nickname. He learnt

To read news headlines peeling away the frayed linoleum;

Pink with red flowers in his parent's bedroom, as if wrack

Could be countered by austere repetition. The cottage was

Decaying, even the mud wasps had abandoned their homes.

He gave a nest to his daughter; the fine creation full of holes.