Sally
is learning the
language of flowers
by rooting about
their
roots
loosening up
their common names
so they
tumble
easily from her
tongue
Amongst the
bracken
and the fungi
Sally forgoes
Latin for
descriptive
Dipodium roseum
becomes the
the dotted
Rosy Hyacinth
Daviesia latifolia
Hop Bitter-pea
with sprays of
yellow-orange glory
Before the creek
it was birds
classical history
at university
nothing
about native
plants
now the names
fall like running
water
over granites
Manna gums
lomandras
banksias
all the species
she's planted
over time
Some titles
come quicker
if propagated
Correa:
white
green
Wattle:
black
sweet
hedge
others stem
from an ongoing
hatred
a sweeping veil of
Bridal creeper
trees clothed
in capes of ivy
invasive grasses
between the Weeping
and the Wallaby
After 30 years
Sally knows
where the
Saw Sedge
grows
the ways the
Angled Onion
spreads its bulbs
when the
Sundew buds
still
her mind
is gully mud
absorbing
facts on
Wandering Trad
and
Knobby Club
divulging
knowledge
to anyone who'll
indulge her
On Senior's walks
she talks in bursts
under an October
sun the flora
names are fun
and she has a
knack for humour
so people will
remember what
they saw
up and down
the track
here
a hint at the
hallucinogenic
there
sprigs for a
gin and tonic
a Hop Goodenia
once used for beer
then perhaps
like her
others will get their eye in
but that's purely
her surmising