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One day as I meandered through the silent bushland fair
Escaping from the tumult of the world,
I spied, high in an old gum tree, an aged koala bear,
His limbs around the ancient tree trunk curled

I sat down on a nearby rock beside a little creek
And watched him as he gently swayed aloft,
Then, to my great astonishment, I heard the creature speak
In a voice that, like the breeze, was warm and soft.

"Oh, man, I greet you and I bid you welcome to the wild.
For I sense in you a soul that means no hurt
To the creatures of the bushland, who are gentle, meek and mild,
To the humble ant that scurries through the dirt."

"I see you bear no stick that bangs and smokes and scatters blood,
And I see you bring no instruments of fire.
Nor do you wield those iron teeth that rend the living wood
And neither do you carry snares of wire."

"You do not blast our forests with that cacophonous sound
That others of you kind so often do,
Nor do you shatter shards of cutting glass upon the ground,
Or cruelly crush our plants beneath your shoe."

"Yes, I have watched you often in your visits to the bush,
And seen your skills with painting brush and pen,
Wherewith you have recorded well the silent woodland’s hush
And conveyed its beauty to the world of men."

"The world of Men! I know it well for I have lived there, too,
For when I was an infant, I was found
Beside my slaughtered mother and was locked up in a zoo,
Inside in a cage where humans clustered round!

"Ah! I saw their thronging faces and heard their noisy chatter
And longed for night to fall and bring us peace.
And I longed each day to hear the raindrops gentle pitter-patter
Which might cause the tide of tormentors to cease!"

"In their faces I saw passions which caused me to fear all men –
The cruelty, the indifference, and the greed,
And I thought that I would never see my forest home again;
And that only by my death would I be freed!"

"But one glorious night a keeper left our prison door agape
And out we crept into the evening breeze,
Then through softly beckoning branches we made our swift escape.
By morning we were far away among our native trees!"

"So here I rest in tranquil peace - alone, and gladly so!
I watch you ply your painting-brush and pen.
For I am in my Heaven, whilst you, O Man, must go
Back to your noisy, fearsome world of Men!"

I must have dozed a while, for when I woke, the bear had gone.
And lengthening shadows told me night was close.
But as I plodded sadly homeward towards the setting sun,
How I envied that koala in his Eden-like repose!

Gerry Forster