Anna Couani #185 habitats

water bird - sugar lift etching

I see you stomping around

through the mud in gumboots

paper and pen in hand

looking out over the paddocks

taking in the greenness of leaves

uplifted by the natural world

helpful for poetry

turning around

sometimes taking it for granted

but greenness at your back

a shed at your front

I see you with your platypus

that I’ve never seen

in the wild

the mounds with ceramic pieces

straight gums

a vista of hills

and the skyward roof

of the studio filled with light

and the darkness of the night

with stars and sounds

of the wheels of the press

of the fires of the kiln

I see you walking in the pine forests

of Switzerland

tramping in the snow

picking up pine cones

sitting before the open fire

drawing into the early night

so far from home

but happy in the cold

tearing up rice paper

I see you in your basement studio

with its view of the river

surrounded by well-designed wood

everywhere a tableau of brushes in bottles

old stand oil standing

stacks of canvases

frozen time in that style

but bringing continuity

in the family home you abandoned

and now, where to go

I see myself in my studio

huddled in the inner city den

or working at the computer

right on the street

feeling the hum of stationery buses

glimpsing the street trees

but mostly rooftops

the city beyond

dreaming of my friends

in their habitats