My very proud husband David and daughter Jessica McCallum with the FAWWA Anthology 'Lines in the Sand' which includes this poem.

desertification

before cultivation the water flowed

bouncing on leaves falling falling

to pool on fertile forest floor below

before cultivation the water flowed

flora bursting with life and clean air

jostling for sunspace canopy flirting

before cultivation the water flowed

we didn’t listen as we ploughed

clearing tree roots to feed fields

before cultivation the water flowed

now encrusted salt lusts after land

no sweetness here just bitter dry sand

Frances Macaulay Forde © 2007