Cavitation
of course, even
the sessile organisms speak
most in hertz too subtle for the non-winged non-thoraxed
among us and now they say
mustard plants talk when dying of thirst
rhythm mustered into undulating waves
imagine a brittle frond unfurling fingertips,
root twisting fungi to call SOS through the earth
help.
the sequoia, receptive, rallying a return
of course.
yes.
we give because what else is there to do
there is no other way to reach towards the sun
listen listen
cavitation the chatter of air bubbles bursting
too subtle for big-brained mammals
how ignorant the lifeform that cannot
hear
pleading.
Casuarina Elegy, But Not.
To inhale earth tapestry
pungent as pine, but not.
To finger limbs draped
in ruffled lichen cloaks
velveteen sleeves of moss,
arms as tree branches, but not.
Seedlings to sink the shorelines,
almost wet footed, but not.
Branchlets of fine feathered leaves,
but not. {Teeth. All teeth}
Floor fungi don beige berets,
death caps, for unhinged lovers,
but not.
I enter the grove as sacred site
church pews of humus and silver
woven lofts; St Andrew’s cross.
Spider performing last rites
a prophylactic prayer,
religious, but not.
Myfanwy Williams (she/her) is a Sydney based queer poet and writer of Filipino Welsh heritage. With a passion for ecology, social and environmental justice, her writing seeks to recentre nature in contemporary poetic discourse. Her poetry has been published in Plumwood Mountain Journal, About Place Journal, Wild Roof Journal, The Winged Moon Literary Journal, Querencia Press’ “We Were Seeds,” and others. In 2024, her poem “The Carrying” was nominated for the Pushcart Prize by Querencia Press. She holds degrees in literature, psychology, and sociology, with a PhD in Social Science from the University of New South Wales, Sydney, where she currently teaches.