HILARY ELFICK

Survival

 

Of course it was the bones that brought
the bush rat, and the bush rat the snake.

At first glance everything outside was green the
brush that we kept cropped close by the house
the grey gums and the frangipani, and
the cristagalli tree that carried red blossoms.

But then the king parrot had his flash of red too
above his bill, and his cry was red.
We were level with the tops of the lower trees
and sometimes he seemed a hand’s breadth away.
When he was still, with his head turned away
he was indistinguishable from the leathery leaves.

Even the river was green between bouts of rain.
‘I want to come first in your life’ he had said and
I remember staring, frozen, at the slow-moving plateau
between the banks, between the high sandstone buffs.

I remember too the sound of the rain on that tin roof.
Most times that same tin made us fry in January,
hands sticking wetly to the wide round table where we
picked at food. You could see that inorganic silver stripe
for miles, way, way along the track, or from the
gentle old house across the river. But the rain
made a drumming that put me on a continent where
I had not yet been. It was afterwards, in Uganda,
when I heard the tribal rhythms, that I remembered
the tin roof and the rain. I did not want to leave.

It became necessary for reasons that had nothing to do
with the house, nor the brush-cutting, nor the tin roof,
nor even the summer heat and the roar that the cicadas made.
But I needed not have wept for the leaving. Everything that
mattered has crept slowly, inexorably, up into sturdy growth
through the heavy soil of time and my long absence.
It is with me still - the scent of frangipani, the blossom
on the old cristagalli tree, the cry of the king parrot, the pied lark
and the currawong, even the bush rat, yes, even the snake.

Roxana-Monica Mîndrican

Hilary Elfick
 

Supravietuire

Desigur mirosul oaselor l-a ademenit
pe soarece, iar soarecele pe sarpe.

La prima vedere totul era verde afara
tufisurile pc care le tunsesem cresteau pe langa casa

eucaliptii gri* si frangipanii* si
copacul cristagalli* cu boboci purpurii.

Dar si regele papagal avea o stralucire purpurie
deasupra ciocului, si tipatul ii era purpuriu.
Eram la acelasi nivel cu pomii mai scunzi
si uneori el parea a fi doar la o un pas departare.
Cand statea neclintit, avand capul intors
se confunda cu frunzele aspre

Chiar si raul parea verde in rafelele de ploaie.
„vreau sa fiu primul in viata ta” a spus el si
imi amintesc cum priveam inghetat la platoul ce se misca incet
intre maluri, intre rocile inalte de gresie galbena

imi amintesc de asemenea si zgomotul ploii pe acoperisul de tabla.
Aceeasi tabla care de cele mai multe ori ne facea sa ne prajim in ianuarie,
cu mainile ude agatandu-ne de masa rotunda pe care
mancam. Puteai zari acea fasie anorganica argintie
de la mile si mile departare, sau din
vechea si calduroasa casuta de peste rau. Dar ploaia
facea un zgomot ce m-a dus pe un continent
necunoscut mie pana atunci. Mai apoi in Uganda,
auzind ritmurile tribale, mi-am amintit
acoperisul de alama si ploaia. Nu vroiam sa plec.

A devenit necesar din motive care nu avea nimic de-a face
cu casa, de curatatul tufisurilor, sau de acoperisul de tinichea,
nici macar de toropeala verii si de zumzetul greierilor.
Nu ar fi trebuit sa plang la plecare. Tot ce conta
S-a furisat greoi, inexorabil, in plantele robuste
prin solul arid al timpului si al lungii mele absente.
Inca mai port cu mine mirosul de frangipani, bobocul
din pomul cristagalli, strigatul regelui papagal, ciocarlia pestrita*
si currawong-ul, chiar si soarecele de camp*, da, si chiar si sarpele.

*the grey gum tree most often has a smooth grey trunk, hence it’s name, and is a Koala Food Tree in areas of the New South Wales north coast where it originates. It’s also an important pollen source for bees when conditions are favorable and can grow into a rather large tree of up to 35 metres in height. It is suited to a variety of soils including poor or moist soils and the hard wood is used in heavy construction. In Romanian it is called”eucalipt”

*frangipani is a small genus of 7-8 species native to tropical and subtropical Americas. The genus consists of mainly deciduous shrubs and trees. P. rubra (Common Frangipani, Red Frangipani), native to Mexico, Central America, Southern India and Venezuela, produces flowers ranging from yellow to pink depending on form or cultivar. From Mexico and Central America, Plumeria(Frangipani) has spread to all tropical areas of the world, especially Hawaii, where it grows so abundantly that many people think that it is indigenous to that island system.

*Cristagalli tree („copacul cristagalli” in Romanian) is a flowering tree in the family Fabaceae, native to Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil and Paraguay. It is widely planted as a street or garden tree in other countries, most notably in California (in the United States). It is known by several common names within South America: ceibo, seíbo (Spanish), corticeira (Portuguese) and the more ambiguous bucaré, to name a few. In English it is often known as the Cockspur Coral Tree.The tree's flower is the national flower of Argentina and Uruguay. It is also the official city tree of Los Angeles, California (where it is referred to simply as "the coral tree")
 

*the pied lark („ciocarlia pestrita”).
Larks are passerine birds of the family Alaudidae. All species occur in the Old World, including northern and eastern Australia; only one, the Shore Lark, has spread to North America, where it is called the Horned Lark. Habitats vary widely, but many species live in dry regions. They have more elaborate calls than most birds, and often extravagant songs given in display flight (Kikkawa 2003). These melodious sounds (to human ears), combined with a willingness to expand into anthropogenic habitats — as long as these are not too intensively managed — have ensured larks a prominent place in literature and music, especially the Skylark in northern Europe and the Crested Lark and Calandra Lark in southern Europe.
 

*The Bush Rat (Rattus fuscipes) is a small Australian nocturnal animal. It is an omnivore. It is one of the most common species of rats and is found in many heathland areas of Victoria and NSW. Adult Bush Rats are smaller than the Australian Swamp Rat, (Rattus lutreolus), and in addition, the Bush Rat's foot pads are a pink colour, whereas the Swamp Rat's foot pads are dark brown. In Romanian it is called “soarece de camp.