The magic of the Scenic Rim

August 25, 2020

Poem by Adam Bennett & Belinda Kerr

Hand over hand we ascend the ladder

Leaving the chaos of 2020 far behind

Stepping into the ancient Gondwana Forest

 

The indigenous, the explorers and pioneers

Upheavals and erosions, the fires and floods

We pay our respect to country, for all

 

Thick strands of living liquorice wrap around the trunks

Sometimes hugging, often strangling

A fierce battle, always a winner

 

Green wispy rags hanging and blowing

From wooden clotheslines

Snaking and winding their way through the forest canopy

 

Careful now, the giant stinging tree

A heart beckons, but toxic fibreglass barbs lie beneath

Beware of loving so quickly

 

A thick carpet of pine needles and brightly coloured berries

Underneath an army of unseen workers

Tirelessly transform their vast home into nutrient gold

 

Silence for a second, then beautifully interrupted

A mating call? A warning call?

Or simply just singing for pleasure

 

The cracking call of the whip

Will she answer? We hold our breath

She does – we smile

 

A family of lucky ladybirds

Identical spotted jackets of red and black

Sunning themselves on a fallen tree

 

Vibrant green umbrellas

Providing glorious shade for their friends

Every level of this community playing their vital role

 

The ravaging Queensland fires

Has left its black marks everywhere

But after the black comes the green

 

New life set in motion

Look up, the branches dusted in green

The circle of life continues

 

The charred grass tree hides its varnished middle

Its sticky lollipop dripping with nectar

A delight for the winged creatures

 

The colossal trees

Stretching their torsos skyward

And down below their snaking root curtains dividing the valley floor

 

Sunlight finds its way into every available space

Flooding the forest floor

Yet leaving islands of shade

 

Hollows form secret homes

The high rise apartments

Of the possums and owls

 

A flurry of mud

A wild pigs paradise

Or perhaps just a teenagers bedroom

 

A machine gun, a screaming woman

Call 000? Stand down humans

It’s the Leuwin’s Honeyeater and the Cat Bird

 

A secret door covered in moss

Hinges open to a smooth, long tunnel

The home of the ever vigilant trapdoor spider

 

A poem, a plane, a peaceful nature bath

It’s all part of the immersion

To feel a world away

 

A place to rest a coffee cup

Thank you bracket fungi

Natures kitchen at its best

 

Fancy a glass of bubbly?

Scenic Rim Trail will always oblige

So too will the delightful champagne funghi

 

An evocative memory of my family home

Standing alone, the slaty gum

A totem of our master Gondwana guide

 

The industrious yellow throated scrub wren

Proud of her home

A Queenslander, complete with porch and all

 

High on Bare Rock

The wedge tail eagle soaring and swooping

A majestic span of 2.8 metres

 

Ice and fire

Mistake and Mitchell’s eroded over time

Leaving a whale’s playground

 

Rustling and fossicking in the undergrowth

A regal tail – eagle eyes spy the shy

Hello Prince Albert!!

 

A protective mother, swollen belly

Peers through the undergrowth

To bid us farewell

 

A distant mechanical rumbling

Heralds our return

The magical Rim is complete, a lifelong memory created.