The Australian jungle

Moss has the smell of old pennies at the bottom of the gully.
Ibis searches for food in the moist leaf litter,
poking its long curved beak into the mud,
and then making a rough guttural sound, ‘wahrk’.
The heat is so intense that it seems like you can chew on the figs.
But all of a sudden, there’s a crack.
Kook-kook-ka-ka-KAAK!
And then the kookaburra drops its hacking laugh straight on top of you.
Drip. Plop.
Water drops to the big leaf first and then splashes into the mud.
Wallaby passes by thumping its feet,
and a grey kangaroo freezes in the clearing.
Way up high in the fork of the smooth gum tree,
the koala moves and grunts from its throat.
Suddenly, the gully bursts open—
SCREEECH-AAK!
A white cockatoo rushes into the air like a burst of paper,
while the cicadas drill into the darkness.