This stellar autumnal morning reminds me of the walking and writing course I did for a week along The Larapinta Trail out side Alice Springs.It was led by Jan Cornell and there were about 20 of us in the group. It was a rewarding experience and the following poem was written at a humbling moment along the way.
The quote “We are but travellers here” is on a poster I had framed many years ago.It is claimed as a quote from the great Australian Josephite Sister, Mary MacKillop.
It is a reminder we are finite beings. Therefore live your life to the fullest now and secondly it is a reminded we are but stewards not owners.
I love the thought in my poem the land is my teacher
we are but travellers here
in desert country
outside alice springs
richly red rock rusted fiery
bruised and brush-worked to indigo
shimmers through hot air
a track like an ancient song line
marks a way
frisks intruders
needle spinifex claw
roots of river-gums
bulbous siphons plunge defiantly
deep into dry river beds
we trudge heavily
sand shifts unevenly
bones picked clean
washed up caught against tree trunks
from the last big wet
a warning this land is merciless
nemesis
teacher
at the end of each day
a truck delivers swags
food water
reminding us we are but travellers here*
*we are but travellers here – Mary McKillop