Northern Long-nosed Potoroo

in the subtropical warmth, the warm temperate forests
in the tall open forests, in a range of vegetation types
the dense understories and the dense coastal heaths
beneath the thick ground cover, the light soils easy for digging, here you stand
beneath the heaths, beneath the low gremlin of a jagged shrub
in the dry sclerophyll forests, the wet sclerophyll forests
their dense understories of slicked up ferns and grasses, occasional open areas
where grass-trees surround ferns, heaths and sedges
low shrubs of tea trees clumped in beside the melaleucas
a sandy loam soil, where dense cover is a distinctive feature
a patchwork of habitats and ground cover densities
the long, undulant carpets of a quiet country
here you are, shrouded in the density of midday
hidden from the revelation of light’s harsh blanket
until it begins to fray 

Read Stuart's full poem 'Northern Long-nosed Potoroo'.

Stuart suggests reading this poem in horizontal-scrolling view.