Old kangaroos with worn-down teeth

cannot get any nutrition.

They sense they will die, so their final hours 

are driven by intuition.

Their know hollow trees 

are their best safe havens,

to save their eyes

being pecked out by ravens. 

The lucky roos will die in peace,

sheltered inside a tree,

beyond the reach of enemies

who would feast on them with glee.

Such is life in the bush —

relentless, wild and cruel,

a never-ending circle 

of life, death and renewal.

The Cazneaux tree, Flinders Ranges, Australia. Photo by Ginette Pestana