The Rufuos-Hare Wallaby (The Mala)

Crunch           Crunch          Crunch        

The crunch of the dried-up leaves is the bass line in a song, 

Clashing with the melody of the soft padding of a young mala. 

She is searching for prey but is scaring it away. 

She has much to learn. 

With eyes as black as the midnight sky her tail is a painter’s tan brush 

Dipped into a matte grey paint made of crushed-up moon. Her fur is shaggy and long, soft and rough, with many different textures on one small body  

But her whiskers are as bristly as a forgotten patch of grass crying for help but dying. 

After a year, she has learnt so much, 

And now created something irreplaceable, something capable of bringing love and joy. 

As she watches her baby mala sleeping soundly by the trees, 

While she sings softly, sweetly, she is overcome with a heart-warming feeling of pride and happiness. 

Wrenched from her heart, this feeling is instantly taken away by a fiery red monster, threatening to kill her one joy forever. 

                                 WHY?