Once, we walked amongst quolls & devils
Striped thylacine ochred on caves
Dingoes were tamer, slept by us, warm &
Part of our pack.
Like us, they gave birth on dirt
Pups anointed with red holiness of earth & tiny fossils
A blessing: this is your land, wild creature of a wild earth.
And the gang gangs would screech a greeting at the first mewl
We'd turn our heads skywards in joy
Ululate a greeting to the serpent, the wombat, the crocodile alike
Warm breeze in the summer, firelight on possum fur in winter
She'd go by the creek and dip her fingers in the cool water
Brush tricklets of water on the babies skin
Introduce her to the wild things that were her inheritance.
Somehow, we cultured.
The thylacines became pests - wolf-like, they'd hunt sheep
And besides, there was not enough food
How could we accomodate all the wildlings?
Across the seas, Europeans had already built sooty cities
Created reasons for men to steal and starve
Taught: you are this, and the forests are other
Go no longer to the rivers for anointing -
We have temples, and lace dresses
Gates to keep the wild out.
In the southern lands, these rules applied - terra nullius
No man's land - only wilderness to be brought to heel
Now, the women send their children away to school
The fathers come home with cities in their eyes
Black ribbons of road with thundertrucks taking the coal to the ports
Strip the furred and winged things from the trees - woodchipped giants
Split the ground asunder for gas
Drill in offshore rigs - great steel things, so unlike our flesh
Steel & soft hearts cannot unite, though there's an attraction of course.
Economies thrive off dead things.
The redgums know - what's left of them
So do the skulls of the creatures we'd call to, in the untamed past.
The black cockatoos still screech ahead, warning of rain -
But we have forgotton to look up.
Trembling with angst, we adopt meditative practices
Slip into streams of consciousness where the wild things are
Remember we are no different from the quolls, the dingoes, the wombats and possums
We kick off our shoes and walk barefoot on the hot earth
Take the children down to the creek and brush their foreheads with cool water
Say: rewild yourselves, my darlings.
This land is you, you are the earth.
This was written for the Tribe Steem Up question of the week, posed by 
@naturalmedicine II Discord Invite II #naturalmedicine
