Interest Haiku #16: Uluru

[flwyd]

Uluru

outback's orange rock
stone's soul captured in photos
here lies great power

This is the first interest haiku where I've been at a loss for what to say. The first time I saw a picture of Uluru, I was probably around ten. In the last fifteen years, I've seen no image that draws me as strongly as Ayer's Rock. Some day I must pay it a visit. But for a lifelong obsession, I don't know that much about the rock.

Some facts:

• It's the world's largest monolith
• It's circumference is 8km and reaches a height of 318m.
• It's made of arkose, a sandstone
• It's in the middle of the Australian outback. Not much is around it, though Kata Tjuta, a similar rock formation, is a few kilometers away.
• It is a sacred site to the Anangu, guardians of the rock

As a sacred location and world heritage site, visitors must take care to preserve the beauty and power of Uluru. But unlike most national parks, climbing Uluru is not prevented.

Anangu have not closed the climb. They prefer that you - out of education and understanding - choose to respect their law and culture by not climbing. Remember that you are a guest on Anangu land.

Uluru is, in a sense, the pinnacle of my fascination with deserts. Whenever I get my hands on a copy of National Geographic, I check the contents in the hopes the issue has pictures of harsh landscapes. The Sahara. Siberia. The American Southwest. Antarctica. The rainforest is beautiful; the desert is amazing. It is a testament to the power and fragility of life. While it's easy to think of the giving Earth Mother, the desert reminds us that the Solar Father is giving, but can take away just as easily. The desert is meditative, it provides solitude. But most of all, the desert looks damn cool.

Someday I'll make it to Australia. My first goal will be a mound of stone in the middle of the desert. My second goal will be to understand Aussie rules football.


(For those of you just joining the program, this is part of a periodic series. I'm going through my LiveJournal Interests in reverse alphabetical order. For each one, I write a haiku and explain why it's an interest. Nobody else seems to have caught on to the meme, except mlechan who usually comments with her own interest haiku in my journal. I keep my interest haiku in my memories section.)

Comments

[ihatepavel.livejournal.com]

I have a haiku journal, bad about updating it, but I welcome everyone to do haiku battles with me (it's not about winning, it's just about trading off haiku).

ihate5_7_5

[slyviolet.livejournal.com]

The problem is, I keep adding interests that mess up the ordering and so I keep having to leapfrog back and forth to make sure that everything is represented here. So, having just filled in the gap 'theological pastiche' left in the last haiku entry of yours, I'm now jumping back again and catching another straggler:

Twin Peaks

Wait a minute, please...
This is, excuse me, a damn
Fine cup of coffee.

[somaustralis.livejournal.com]

I've had a fascination with Ayers rock since I was a kid, too. I don't know what it is...something mysterious about a big, red rock in the middle of nowhere. I wanted to see it when I went to Australia, but it takes a few days to get out there and be able to see it for more than a few minutes (I had eight days in the entire country).

Someone who I lived with in New Zealand went and climbed it. I think there are ways that don't damage the rock itself, like not sticking a bunch of bolts in it...but who knows. He was also the arrogant American type. Still better than the uptight Norweigan. I digress...

[soromon.livejournal.com]

I also have heard that the rock is a religious site for the native people.

But taken out of context, "Guardians of the Rock" sounds rather hilarious.

[477150n.livejournal.com]

Did you notice Uluru in the Hitchhikers' Guide movie?