Strong

photo of a singlel gumtree on an empty brown valley, on the way from Adelaide to Central Australia

In desolation,
in vastness of highway hum,
grows a steady gum.

Surrounded

photo of small town Melrose as seen from halfway up Mount Remarkable summit, surrounded by gumtrees — Melrose, South Australia, as seen from halfway up Mount Remarkable

Flanked on all four sides,
eucalyptus aplenty—
tiny island town.

Emerge

closeup photo of the peeling bark of a tree

Our layers crumble—
when who we were fades away,
who we could be, comes.

Graveyard

photo of the gravestone of a 76 year-old man with a plastic toy gun lying on it

Uncanny couple:
an old man and a toy gun—
may they rest in peace.

Small

screenshot of a map of the Mount Remarkable summit hiking trail in Melrose

In search of the peak
hiking beyond hiker’s high—
just footprints on sand.