d:
a este m o h
The
Spiders and t h e
Po m e g r a n a t e Tr e e Theatre of Words
homestead: Theatre of Words
The Spiders and the Pomegranate Tree
NoĂŤl Christian Nyrang Creek 2010
There was once a place halfway down the main street of a township where a garden was allowed to grow behind a wooden fence between a forgotten stable and a run down sort of pub where many men had come and gone for work or for their pleasure
1
but since those days the yardage had been shut up and neglected and grass grew on the pavements and there were Freesias in the lawn and a scattering of rubbish that used to be a shade-house and a single pomegranate tree growing into tangles and abundant in its fruiting and all flourishing and wild.
2 = II fruit & flourish & wild
When the fruit was in its season the insects there were busy and the birds from distant bushland came to gather round and feed and at other times the creatures that blew upon the breezes landed there in settlements to hide from the rain and the cold and feed from off the droppings that the birds left on the branches so the year was all of movement and everything was living and noisy in the ignorance of the people of the town.
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4
Down the trunk where the fallen leaves made up their deepest bundles in the thickest of the tangles and just above the rootstock a populace of spiders had their shelter from the sunlight and returned there after hunting when the dawn was getting near.
They were glossy in their features and fat and full of fibre and ran up and down the branches like the energies of fire and their eyes were points and brilliant and lavish in the moonlight and the fur upon their bodies had the loveliness of sky.
They never grouped together for they understood their nature and in their silent language remained cautious of each other because they were always hungry and came rapidly to bite but they were surrounded by food with so much space around them that they turned away from violence when they crossed each other’s path and chose a peaceful way of life and they kept their manners nice
and so things were continued through the change of years and fashions until one who was not young nor yet older than the others but given to wander further and to watch the rising sun climbed out of the tree and went to regard it from a distance and ask of it many questions to which it did not respond.
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7
8 After this adventure they were all nervous and afflicted and everyone was restless and was anxious about the tree because now they knew that they could not frighten or affect it and everything they relied upon was out of their control.
ov renllaerewyehterut nasawdnasseltsersawe rftondluocyehttahtwe riehtfotuosawnopudei
They developed an academy of history and hope and came up with many theories and different propositions and alternatives and actions and models and predictions until they were concluded that they must construct a future and never submit to anything unless it was themselves
so they would build a vessel or a craft for distant travel and go out very far away until in the end they found a tree they could intimidate that would meet with their demands.
IX
There was once a place halfway down the main street of a township where a garden was allowed to grow behind a wooden fence between a forgotten stable and a 10 run down sort of pub where many men had come and gone for work or for their pleasure but since those days the yardage had been shut up and neglected and grass grew
on
the
pavements
and
there
were
Freesias the a scattering of The spacein ship was largelawn and comfyand on an armature of twigs with a hull of bracts and parts of leaves tied off with lengths of web
rubbish that used to be a shade-house and and feathers both of red and green from lorikeets and parrots put out along the midline to show the starboard show port. a single pomegranate tree and growing into
tangles and abundant in its fruiting and all flourishing and wild. When the fruit was in its season the insects there were busy and the birds from distant bushland came to gather round and feed and at other times the creatures that blew upon the breezes landed there in settlements to hide from the rain and the cold and feed from off the droppings that the birds left
on the branches so the year was all of movement and everything was living and noisy in the ignorance of the people of the town. Down the trunk where the fallen leaves made up their deepest bundles in the thickest of the tangles and just above the rootstock a populace of spiders had their
s h e lter
returned
there
f ro m
the
after
s u n l i g ht
hunting
and
when
the
dawn was were glossy On the inside itgetting was lined with near. the softest They of their spinning and chambers and compartments for the protection of their eggs in their features and fat and full of fibre and bits of bark to climb upon and places to stop and sleep a gantry downand the centredown so the steersmen could steer. and andran up the allbranches like
the energies of fire and their eyes were points
and
brilliant
and
lavish
in
the
moonlight and the fur upon their bodies had
the
grouped
loveliness together
of for
sky. They they
never
understoo d
Eleven their nature and in their silent language
remained cautious of each other because they were always hungry and came rapidly to bite
The sails stuck out like wings in the arrangement of a fruit fly and the rudder was a little tail that wriggled up and down and when it had been finished and it met the proper standards the spiders all withdrew inside and they waited for the wind.
Page No: (#) twelve (12) XII = an even dozen
The ship had been assembled on the tip of the topmost branch and deployed for instant take-off once the door was stitched in tight but the branch was very springy and the weight from fore to aft was uneven and haphazard and when the spiders entered the ship was rocked from side to side and yawed on its foundations so they all believed that they were already up and flying and they were quick to seal the door and gather at the cables and pull and tug and move the wings for direction through the air.
13
tntuiaettntuiaet tntuiaettntuiaet tntuiaettntuiaet
Later on when the wind came up it buffeted the structure and the motion grew dramatic though the ship stayed in the tree.
It swooped and rose and pitched about to the limits of the branch and the spiders grew excited and ran about in numbers and counted how the days went past by the sunlight on the hull.
the number fourteen
They told each other stories and they changed their generations and wondered where they all would come when the flight was at its end
and they were getting hungry but they all felt great and noble and were proud of their achievement but the space was getting small.
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1$6
On the outside of the garden the town was being managed and everything was fresh and clean with good money changing hands.
this is the seventeenth page
There was traffic on the railway on the far side of the street and cars and trucks on many roads and machines up in the sky and all the noise of industry from far around the district grew louder and more busy as the economy got large.
this is the seventeenth page
And new owners took the pub and it was designed and fitted for rooms and spas and coffee and for designer-label food and they restored the garden to be lovely in the evenings with tables on the pavement and a more modern type of grass.
a more modern type of grass
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The pomegranate tree is still there and carefully tended to grow into an elegance at the centre of it all
and the fruit is good and often used as garnish on the plates
g
a r n i s h o n t h e
p l a t e s
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elegance at the centre of it all
20 and pretty birds and butterflies are welcome when they visit to remain a while but not too long as creatures passing through
so the place is always vibrant and a picture to be seen and people come for weddings and to have their photos taken
and to make up happy parties to drink coffee in the shade.
The spaceship became nothing but a shred of rag and fragments with the bodies of dead spiders caught up in the strands of web and it was thrown with rubbish on a pile beside the alley and the wind that came to scatter it has blown itself away.
last page No: 21
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