Possum Poem
16 Jan, 2013 | What's happening in my writing life
Each January for the last three years I’ve taken part in a wonderful thing called Month of Poetry run by the wonderful Kath Apel, the challenge being to write a poem for every day of January. It’s such disciplined fun and amazing to see the variety of subjects we all produce. Below is the poem I wrote on January 5 with accompanying photo.
At the end
of a sun-scorched day
a ring-tail possum falls
from a paperbark
to the ground
and does not have the strength
to move.
She takes small,
grateful sips
of too-warm water ~
all we have . . .
but soon
we find more
and sprinkle her with cool droplets.
As darkness
drifts downwards
she clambers slowly
back up the paperbark
and snuggles into the green . . .
spent
but safe.