White tail bush rat dreaming

Looking for food

in the darkness

I hear the creek

falling down

I hear the creek down below

splashing into a pool

the rocks smooth

lost is their sharpness

their grittiness

I hear other

in the night

run towards the creek

I fall

darkness closes

into a hole

a little water

round pebbles stop me

I curl up and wait

for danger to pass

night passes into day

the walls smooth

as the rocks above

I curl up waiting

for certain death

I hear beings above

strangers to this country

I curl up

a tree branch falls into the hole

I wait

black fur an easy pick

for the birds above

I wait for the safety of darkness

night comes

I climb up the branch

Kakadu NP. July 2023

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 YES I support the Voice.