The mature tree near the gate looks well enough Bundanon April 11th-19th
but time will tighten and suffocate.
A young strangler fig, still feeding as an epiphyte
lowers a pale root, a rope suspended above the earth.
Four glossy leaves warmed by the sun reflect the light
to retain moisture ready to drop if stressed by drought.
Each fruit is an enclosed garden, male flowers guard
the narrow entrance, females effloresce inside the head.
Each species engineers a small wasp that pollinates
while going about the business of eating and living
inside the flower. Ripe figs are rare in the bush,
you compete with the fruit bats for breakfast, lunch
and dinner excreting the small seeds,
depositing them on hosts, convincing the process
to begin all over flexing its muscles.
