Nature in suburbia

Dandelions grow

Between broken brick buildings 

As the gum tree dips its leaves 

Into roof eaves 

With a painter’s grace 

The ibis with its scythe-like beak 

Reaps a grand feast 

From the depths of a 

Bin

The kookaburra, kookaburra

Cackles “Oo, oo ah ah!"

As it perches above the neighbourhood

With a swoop of bough in its clutches 

Outside in the garden a wattle blooms

Little droplets of sun drip from emerald leaves 

Like beads of a scattered necklace 

The redback spider weaves its web

In the back of a supply closet 

It is a mote of crimson eclipse 

Suspended in the night sky