Marcia Short, the poet, was my Great-aunt and the main inspiration behind my writing.

The Waratah, The Wattle And The Blue Gum Tree

Oh the heart is hungry for the land that's part of me

The high hills, the deep bush

The wheatlands wide and free,

The white sands and the wild surf and the singing silver sea

The Warath, the wattle and the bluegum tree.

Never was a glory like the wattles in the spring

Or the white-crested bluegums where the bell birds sing,

Never was a glory like the walltle' downy gold

And the crimson of the Warath when buds unfold,

When hearts are turning homeward, it's there I would be

Where the Southern Cross is shining on the silver singing sea

Where skies are wide and starlit

And the trade wind's blowing free

And the kookaburra's laughing in the bluegum tree.

--- Marcia Short