This is one of the first poems I wrote after arriving in Queensland’s far north, many years ago. It appears in my self-published chapbook, Organic Interactions.
The climate of the Wet Tropics doesn’t follow the four seasons of temperate zones. Through the year the four elements of earth, air, fire and water manifest in a long, slow, spiral dance:
In the Time Of Water
Dragon’s-breath mist curled round the mountain
Waterfalling its tongue in a sharp-sprayed fountain
Lying in droplets, in puddles, pools and lakes
Churning and turning the creek as it snakes
Into Time Of Wind
Violent seas in a vortex spinning out gales
Gossiping grass whipped to fury by wind’s wild tales
Flattening fields, tearing trees, roofs and walls
Splitting our ears as the air pressure falls
Into Time Of Earth
A laden train’s rumble vibrating the track
Grumbling to retorts of the cane cutting crack
Dusting the air, our hair, skin and eyes
Icing the harvest cake as it flies
Into Time Of Fire
Cauldron of heat melting tar from the roads
Assaulting the air as its battery unloads
Flashing at aerials, poles, posts and spires
Arcing the spark with a roar as it fires
Into Time Of Water
Earth
Air
Fire
Water
(c) Helen Ramoutsaki 2011
A beautifully crafted account of this fascinating region. I think you have given an exquisite alternative to our mundane description of “wet” and “dry” for the seasons here. The tight rhymes and clear images are provocative. Thank you for sharing this poem.