It was National Tree Day in Australia on the weekend. To celebrate, I visited my favourite mangrove tree near my house with my sister and wrote a little poem to share with you…

Let me bury my feet
in the dark earth
for a time.

I want cracked bark
to grow over my smooth skin
and the winds
to toss my bones about.

I want to sprout leaves
in the spring time
and learn how to speak
with their rustling language.

And in the winter time
I want to learn
how to be silent.

In the droughts
I will
force my roots deeper
and deeper
into the
dark dirt
and,
when the rain comes,
I will drink
as I stand
up to my knees
in thick mud.

And after a long while,
perhaps,
just perhaps,
I’ll lift my feet
out of the earth
and it will feel strange
to walk away.