leave a row for darren

crawl outta the swag at 530am
rummage for your boots
in the dewy mundaring dark
drag yourself to the ute
up the great eastern
off gorrie road, an eye to for roos
in the misty grey

we’re at the tree dump in the breaking light
loading a 100 boxes of radiata
fried bacon on a slice of white bread
ice on the box plastic
fingers like frozen rocks
then its a load up the bucket

heel two three drop
heel two three drop

up and back, across the paddock
smashing rows on rows on rows

then up at bennies road
south of ledge point
pitching tents in the rain
four men getting 15 a day

heel two three drop
heel two three drop

down at the yanchep block
50 hecs of joy
its like ice skating over ice cream
these sandy scalps
the deepest ripline
a tree every five seconds
120 stems in the buckets
chasing emu tracks
kangaroo, fox memories
and big cats, dogs
stopping to snap and share
photos of anigozanthus
on facebook

heel two three drop
heel two three drop

theres discussion at the ute
about thylacine prints
in the early morning mist
and stop work meetings
in the middle of the paddock
about when to have smoko
when to get more boxes

heel two three drop
heel two three drop

my mind is zenning until
davos never-ending dick jokes
in-depth discussions about
bowel movements
remembering the new bloke
he had a perpetual talking disorder
and quit on the third day
on the last day theres jets
flying low slow
above us
almost within reach
thick ashy smoke from
the burning off in next block
makes the afternoon sunlight
create unimaginable colours
pink and blue
we’re in an iraq war zone
or planting on mars

heel two three drop
heel two three drop

redtail and whitetail cockatoos
thanking us from above
for the fresh habitat

cant stop the broken lines
of unwritten poems
and the stupid songs
tree planters shanties:

leave a row for darren
leave a row for darren
leave a row for darren
coz he just moved the ute

heel two three drop
heel two three drop

shadows of pinasta stems
erect in my rhythmic wake
and every tree, every heel
is a step closer
to you