TURTLE DOVE at DAWN

Harmonic chatter from the treetops

at break of day;

a matins prayer before the arising sun tips the East

 in a chorus of awakening;

Childhood reminiscences echo in my bones:

rooks en-masses gathering

in the elms:

the barn owl’s bedtime hoot as it blinks in the growing light;

 - the Ozzy Bush 

vibrantly alive and seething:

 a caterwauling cacophony

of cackling kookaburras, Whipbirds, Shrike-Thrush, Golden Whistlers

raucous Channel-billed Cuckoos,

Noisy (indeed!) Miners, flute-like carolling Magpies,

shrieks of Rainbow Lorikeets

Such a’jabber, as thick mists rise 

and unknown creatures scurry and squeak

 in their precambrian tongues.

Then our melodic turtle dove,

before the Jackdaws get going;

A pristine, solitary chant

to salute Ahura Mazda

each Dawning.