Dear Mother Nature

Dear Mother Nature, who are you?
Surrounded by the smoke drifting above the skyscrapers,
I did not know you. Plastic seemed to own the footpaths.

You were unrelenting. Your anger,
The worst of a century. I could feel you lurching through the screen.
You breathed out flames towards your family, trees falling to the ground.
The Hardy Eucalyptus and Orchids nearing extinction.

But, I remembered you. Your warm hugs at the campfire.
Bringing us together at night, we told stories around you,
Eating the damper you helped mould.
You were safety.

You were beautiful. You never turned your back,
The Royal Botanical Gardens, the Chinese Garden of Friendship, you accepted everyone.
The smell of pollen warmed the air - tingling flowers of Asperula, Clematis and Lomandra.
Your vibrancy attracting bees, a home for animals, a backdrop for serenity.
The cool waterfall seeps into the temples of calmness.

I see you, Mother Nature, around me.
You provide the tools around us. Now we must nurture you,
As you have nurtured us.