Anita Patel

How the waraburra presses its passionate purple

purpose against the wattle’s golden blaze—

whispering darkly into all that yellowness…

How it twines its pea-petalled tendrils through fragrant

inflorescence, twisting and turning in the downy sweetness

of those steady arms…

and the acacia bending slightly—yields her bright branches

to the ardent knot and tangle of this demanding wanderer…

Note: Waraburra is the Aboriginal name for Hardenbergia violacea also known as Happy Wanderer. It derives from the Dharug and D’harawal languages of the Wa’ran (Sydney) region. (https://waraburranura.com/)

Anita Patel’s collection of poetry, A Common Garment (Recent Work Press), was published in 2019. Her poem ‘Women’s Talk’ won the ACT Writers Centre Poetry Prize in 2004 and her poetry was selected for and published in Australian Book Review’s States of Poetry ACT, 2018. She was the guest editor for Issue 2 of Not Very Quiet Journal.