2021

Breathe……

Sunlight shining in the late summer afternoon illuminates the dying leaves of the eucalypt, creating a rainbow of colours.
These leaves, a natural wonder, convert sunlight and carbon dioxide into energy to feed the tree and produce the oxygen we need to breathe.
Light pours through the lacelike holes, a result of the Psyllids, tiny winged insects that insert their hypodermic mouthparts directly into the liquid gold.
The little bugs move on to build a new shell to protect their expanding bodies, the cells in the leaves die and the holes form.
But nature is in delicate balance.
I smile when I hear the crack crack sound of the Pardalotes expertly removing the lerps and the Psyllid nymphs, to make a perfect meal for their young.
I breathe,
The leaves turn,
The sun catches the intricate, honeydew lattice of the Psyllid’s shells,
and they glow a pure crystal light.