That day the tiny flies that are the native honey bees
licked our skin for salt & it tickled.
So the kids searched for the hive high in a tree
screaming with delight when it was found.
Dinny walked straight up the smooth white trunk
& carefully along the limb with a short axe,
sat down & wrapped his legs for purchase.
He chopped away, chips flying down
while the kids chanted & danced encouragement.
The limb crashed & the hive dropped to the ground.
We all dug in & ate the sweet black honey
swallowing bees mixed with sticks & leaves.
Dinny waved & went back to camp
& the kids took off in another direction.
I followed their fading voices.
When I crashed out of the bush
blinding light
firm white salt pan
reflecting the glare & the clear blue sky,
Bare, brilliant, overwhelming.
Absolute, utter silence.
No bird calls.
No wildlife.
No vegetation.
No footprints that I could see.
Only Frog hill in the distance.
The kids far away ahead, big girls carrying the little ones'
As I walked I could see them merged into a huddle.
bowed faces staring down looking at the ground.
I joined the huddle & bent over to look
at the spot in the centre of the circle.
I saw the shadows,
the texture of the sand,
& our feet.
I said, ‘What is this place? '
‘This Eunice place, '
someone said.
Friday by the river I said to Benjamin aged 6,
‘What is your guardian animal?
‘Water goanna, ' sir, I'll show you.
Benjamin was Dinny's boy.
He waved & took me to his place.
We climbed up on to a fallen tree by the river.
He pointed to a hollow, ‘my mother dropped me here.
She had her feet like this.
He stood astride the hollow & groaned.
The water goanna was watching me come out.'
The big kids looked for crocodile signs.
They nodded ‘nothing' & smiled.
The girls swam in long missionary dresses,
fabric trailing through the water.
Some kids plastered themselves with mud
& lay in the sun to bake.
When dry they leapt from trees into the river
shouting at the top of their voices.
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem