Way up north in the Kimberley dry
grows a boab tree – trunk round and wide
Each one unique – arms stretched out bold
Some more than 1000 years old!
The trunk is curved – shaped like a bottle
(unlike the skinny native wattle)
Their girth can stretch to twenty metres
(I wonder how big it’s volume in litres?)
The boab’s bark is smooth and grey
Branches bare during long dry days
But when the season turns wet, new leaves sprout green
brimming with fruit – a sight to be seen!
Flowers white with a pinkish hue
long delicate lines and fragranced too
The boab nuts are different shapes
covered in hair which can be scraped
To reveal the nut – so smooth and dark
their surface used for native art
