Just Beyond Daylesford

Four crusty-shanked old gum trees
lean outwards and away from
the new home in their midst.

Notice - it is not built of timber.
In fact, it is more like a tank:
a modest square corrugated iron
box with a shining roof.

Perhaps the reticulated neurons
tree roots thread through the earth
are sensing the possibility
of the presence of water.

From the confident way their white torsos
above the crusty bark zone
pour themselves towards the sky

I am struck by the possibility
of mutual respect, peaceful
cohabitation, shared strength.