AUSTRALIAN BUSH SYMPHONY

A hush slowly settles on the camp site

The murmuring of children grows silent

Dogs sleep beside tents or under Utes

Voices grow quiet around the campfires

Friends Old New Temporary

Fall into an easy banter

Nothing much to say

Nothing much needing to be said

The communion of the bush

Is often without the use of words

Just the camaraderie of sharing place and time

Here in this ancient place

Where Convict Aborigine and Settler have journeyed before

Wisdom is all around and words are a poor offering

Silence Awe Wonder seem appropriate

Nature stands as witness to our thoughts

Tall trees touch the sky as miniscule birds hide in leaf fall

The bush animals cease their chattering for the day

And peace settles upon this dark side of the earth

Here beyond City and Civilization

The sky as a million shattered diamonds

But on the Earth beyond the ring of light

Formed from fire and friendship's warmth

The dark lurks like a formidable companion

To some a fearful thing Unknown

Towering over mere mortal man

Reminding us of our smallness in the whole

But we who journey the dirt roads of the less travelled

Marvel at the dark

An endless wonder of new Experiences Sounds and Feelings

Knowing that just outside this circle of the human We

Roo and Wallaby bound seeking the juiciest grass

Free to explore the same dark by which man is stilled

Scrub Turkeys venture amongst us

Man’s leftovers as welcome as bush forage

High in the trees the Night Owl and Cuckoo begin their day

While some would say the mozzies and the flies never sleep

Like a swarming white cloud the cockatoos came at sunset

Raucously announcing their arrival

Finally settling motionless

Giant statuesque flowers in overburdened trees

Lorikeets more melodic but now satiated on bush flowers

Drunkenly chatter and unable to balance in the trees

Fall to wander joyously inebriated through the grass

Some innate wisdom assuring them of their safety

Where man and nature momentarily co-exist in harmony

The Symphony of the Night has begun

As man silenced by sleep or reverence

Quits the discord sounds of human life and mesmerized

Hears the primordial ancient songs of Earth and Creature

As sung upon the silence of the night

And knows again the deep roots of his Being

And thereby Grounded Renewed

Wakes with a new dawn in celebration

At the privilege

Of camping in the bush