trees speak out

ancient forest spirits

whisper from distant times

protect our future

These trees are in the Gariwerd National park in Western Victoria in Australia. This is an ancient mountain range formed millions of years ago through geological upheaval. The forests are also ancient and regenerate after regular fires usually caused by lightning but occasionally by humans. For thousands of years, we are not sure how many, but possibly 30-40,000 at least, Indigenous Australians lived within these ranges and respected the flora and fauna. There are many thousands of years old rock art galleries sharing the culture of the Indigenous people throughout Gariwerd. Rock art sites are still occasionally discovered by current scientists that indicates the wild nature of some sections of this area . The haiku in this Haibun is a response to
RonovanWrites #Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt #Challenge #273 Forest&Whisper go to https://ronovanwrites.com/2019/09/30/ronovanwrites-weekly-haiku-poetry-prompt-challenge-273-forestwhisper/#comments and see lots of other haiku responses to this challenge from Ronovan.

bunjil

bunjils shelter

ancient beginnings

sacred site

Bunjil’s shelter is located on a rocky outcrop looking across a valley to the Northern Grampians/Gariwerd National Park. The story of Bunjil seen here with two Dingoes is the creation story of the Indigenous people from this land. There are other rock art sites in Gariwerd the richest collection in Victoria, they are at the foothills or higher up , Bunjil’s site is very sacred and special to Indigenous Australians because of the story told and its position looking across to the mountains. The exact age of this art and the other works is not known, probably some thousands of years is a reasonable guess. Europeans painted over part of Bunjil’s story many decades ago, today it is protected behind a metal cage.