Morning ants

There is lightness

in the early morning

the murmur of the creek

on its way down the escarpment

the sound of the pandanus leaves rocking with the current

absent minded

I walk through the bushes

feel the slow, uncertain wanderings

of tiny feet

green ants

green ants without a purpose

dreamlike walking over me

I coil for the bytes

but the bytes never come

green ants

flicked them slowly

one by one

no fighting back

too early

Kakadu NP.  July 2024

I acknowledge the traditional owners of the Kakadu national park lands, the Bininj and the Mungguy and its leaders past and present. Sovereignty has never been ceded. Like millions of Australians I accept the Uluru Statement of the Heart and support the Voice.