Boranup Forest

Rounding the bend
one wonders if
one hasn’t driven
into a fairy-tale world.

Karri stretch upward
tall, white sentinels
whose eucalypt canopy
shade the valley below.

Tree ferns and arum lilies
unfurl across forest floor
fronds glistening
from overnight rain.

Enamoured tourists
weave winding paths
bathe in nature’s essence
leave plumes of smoke

and trampled undergrowth.
The flourishing flora
thins, erodes, vanishes
destroyed by blind love.