Daintree Pine

By Laurie Trott 

And there, unexpected, unheralded, you explode
modestly in nurtured vigor, not stationed with the Jurassic herd
but here, elegantly oriental in needled dress
capturing the gaze of exotic ornamental
fans who would pass you by with unawakened sense.

Daintree Pine. Even your name claims wonder!
Surely Daintree palm for that branch of the woods
but no! Unlike Agathis – microstachya, atropurpurea and
their sister robusta –
(she who punctuates the sky so splendiferously nearby)

your genus is not birthed in pre-flowering gymnosperm genius;
yours is nascent angiosperm grandeur that rose from the swamps
of Gondwanan Ice-Age refuge
and here now, still; on and ever on giving shelter and succour
to a thousand winged things.

This poem was created during a workshop with New Shoots: Cairns Botanic Gardens