TINEKE VAN DER EECKEN

Bush tucker

 

Where do you come from? you ask.

A leaf of lemon myrtle,
perfumed and zesty

Where is your country?

Kunzea
A round berry found on rock outcrops
Full-bodied, succulent, sweet and heady

What is your name?

Kumiqs
Long berries with velvet skin
Sweet and tart

Where is your fire?

Native mint
Pungent, biting, zingy

Wattle seed
Dry to the touch
Soft, peppery, nutty
Unmelting and bitter
when crushed in the mouth

Did you say something?
Sorry, I didn’t understand.

Tineke Van der Eecken is a Belgian-born multilingual Australian writer. She is the author of 'Cafe d'Afrique,’ a memoir about her life in Zambia, published in 2012. She writes and performs multilingual poetry, which won her two awards in 2011. The poem 'Bush tucker' appears in Famous Reporter 44.