by ROHAN BUETTEL
(Tree Notice … I am a healthy veteran fig tree (ficus virens) …
Thanks for loving Brisbane’s trees.)
Near the financial heart of a river trade
where three ways meet, a green cathedral cleaves.
The tower figs are white with buttressed curves
and Banyan roots create a colonnade
as branches form fine vaults above the nave.
Surrounding high rise workers can commune
across the crossing, beneath a leafy dome
where soft light filters as through tinted glaze.
Enlightenment is sought in the chapel’s balm
amidst traffic noise; the bishop’s seat
held by the man with ‘The Big Issue’ beat.
The daily paper photo shows trees that calm,
one hundred years ago in thriving throes —
they flourish still, as the fecund city grows.