Hi! Sorry I haven’t written for so long. I have been busy doing many things. Please read below and you will then understand.
Have you ever been on a walk and experienced something you strongly felt and then met with the reason why later on, and created a realisation and clarity that was stronger than the experience itself? On my first bushwalk, just across the road from my house, I encountered this gorgeous cycad and felt a strong presence. There were many other cycads surrounding me but I took this photo almost caressingly. I was telling the cycad that all will be OK. “Once I photograph you, everyone will see your beauty and leave you alone.” But upon other walks I was never able to see this particular cycad again. Was it the strong presence that inspired me to see this beauty or is this particular cycad gone?
And so I wrote this poem. After reading it, please read the paragraph below and the why it is precious will be revealed.
Beauty
Reality
Ownership of identity
Once crowned
Anger was reserved
For foolish thoughts
Held a stance
I pleased myself
And formed the birth
Of Strength
That held my voice in place
Released to the outside
Instinct built reason
A bushland
Stories and evidence
Showed insignificance
When a soul roamed as free as the mind
Endangered
It was found on a journey
Instinct spoke
Presence pursued the truth
And beauty was the result of youBy Maria Grujicic
This is a thank you poem to the bushland and a special plant species of rare Cycad of which I photographed on this sacred walk, of which later I found out was endangered. Sadly this beautiful bushland is going to be destroyed to make way for an industrial area.This is devastating for me because I grew up on the land.
Please read this paragraph about our place, The Bushblock Ludmilla Lot 5182, written by David Percival. Our place is located in a residential area of Darwin, Australia, called Ludmilla. It is a bush-block that has special connections to the Larrakeyah people and the local residents, especially those in Fitzer drive, who can see it just across the road from their houses. People who drive past the bush-block on Bagot road and Dick Ward drive also enjoy this natural scenery on their way to and from work. A Tiwi burial site is there; this is why Totem road is so named. Now, at this time of year, the leaves on the native trees are a brilliant, light green; there are also numerous bird species present, including the large, charismatic Red-tailed Black Cockatoos……
With special thanks to my friend David Percival, who is an expert on the wildlife and helped me become more knowledgeable about the flora and fauna of Darwin. About a quarter of the species of birds of Australia live in Darwin and I felt fortunate that I could experience this. I photographed the wild life to show people its beauty. This is a long story that I hope to write more about when I have more time, but the poem illustrates my thoughts and feelings about myself as the result of finding this plant.
Related articles
- Stunning Opinions of the Bushland Ludmilla! What’s Yours? (greenbeltdarwin.wordpress.com)
- Bushwalking Just Across the Road of My Place (greenbeltdarwin.wordpress.com)
- Rose of Determination & A Place I Call Home (prefacme.com)
- Premonition (poemsthatdance.com)
- Hello world! Welcome to Darwin. (greenbeltdarwin.wordpress.com)
- Eradicating invasive species with quadcopters (hackaday.com)
Excellent insight to a natural treasure close by…
Thanks Chris! One of your posts on FB prompted me to think about beauty, as it is a topic that preoccupies people, whether they admit it or not, but once faced then identity, discovery and knowledge “prevails” to the new. It’s quite a futuristic statement perhaps, in my attempt to illustrate hope.