In 2011 we spent a month in Australia among our adventures we flew to the Red Centre looking out of the plane window at the desert below I was struck by how much the dried lakes and salt pans looked like Aboriginal art or cave paintings.Iricanji a poisonous jelly fish / iri wiri good water

Looking down on the dry river cut country tribal art is revealed

The lands ancient wrinkled skin

Weathered horny hide cracked and lined by countless endless summers

Covered by tattoos

Ancient etchings

Painted by dream time hands

Parched riverbed silhouettes spreading branches of long past trees

Each black dot of tinder dry bush

A leaf a pinprick of paint

Beneath the boughs

Green grey ribbon

Snake coils slither

Across vast brown empty

Half submerged bask

Salties, tortoise and go-ana

Huge vast and ancient

Scales and spines

Hills and escarpments

Reptilian and still

Red marsupial mountains

Hop, bound and leap

Between billabong and creek

Desiccated lakes

Iridescent salt pan opal

Birds and fish

An image of bounty

In a lifeless ochre and brown sun burnt expanse