Australian Haiku Society

Cloudcatcher:

I feel sure you will all join with me in saluting one of our founding members, Sharon Dean. Sharon has been informed that she is a recipient of the Chancellor’s Medal (Griffith University) for excellence in the Doctor of Philosophy, for ‘recognition of your exceptional performance in your research higher degree placing you as one of the highest achieving PhD graduates and the Arts, Education and Law’s top ranked candidate for 2011.’ The graduation ceremony will be in July/August.

The Widjabul people are one of the tribes of the Bundjalung nation. Widjabul country extends from the lower Richmond area around Coraki, to the headwaters of the Richmond catchment in the north, and eastward to the coastal escarpment.

At the entrance to the rainforest remnant at Victoria Park, just outside the village of Alstonville, is a notice claiming, “We belong this country. We look after this country. Don’t do wrong around here this country. We don’t harm this country here. We belong to it this country.”

It was with respect and awe that ten Cloudcatchers meandered in silence under the canopy of this ancient habitat on Thursday 10 May, with glorious autumn sunshine filtering through the diverse foliage. Among the reverence and serenity we found a vitality of life in the canopy and underfoot: abundant bird calls resounded from every side, shy pademelons (small wallabies) were glimpsed from time to time, and a few land mullets (large skinks) scurried under the boardwalk. And everywhere were the lianas, strangler figs, delicate spiderwebs, moss-covered rocks, lichen and fungi, delighting us. Images were captured, and crafted into first-draft haiku around a picnic table. After sharing these, we lunched together at the local ‘Amaze ‘N’ Place’. The sun continued to shine.

A winter ginko is planned for Thursday 9 August, at the mouth of the Brunswick River. Contact: quendrythyoung@bigpond.com.

Quendryth Young
Cloudcatchers Coordinator