The gum tree, owned by the city and trapped in asphalt, belongs instead in nature. The poet compares the tree to a cart-horse that is castrated, confined, and hopeless. The gum tree is a metaphor for indigenous Australians forced off their land. Neither the gum tree nor its “fellow citizen”—the displaced, dispossessed indigenous Australian—is likely to thrive.
 
The author of “Municipal Gum” was born in 1920 on an island in southeast Queensland. Her father belonged to the Noonuccal people. Her family named her Kathleen Jean Mary Ruska, and she was known as “Kath.” From age 13, Kath worked as a domestic servant in Brisbane. When she was 21, she enlisted in the Australian Women’s Army Service and soon after married Bruce Walker, a member of the Gugingin people. After a severe ear infection forced her to leave the Army Service, Kath worked at a variety of jobs and became interested in politics, particularly in fighting for the rights of indigenous Australians. She had separated from her husband before their son was born and raised the child alone. Kath began writing poetry in the 1950s.
 
Her first collection of poetry, We Are Going, was published in 1964. It sold well, and other books followed. The poem “Municipal Gum” appeared in My People: A Kath Walker Collection, published in 1970.She continued writing and was known internationally as a protest poet, political activist, and educator. In 1988, she took the name of her people Noonuccal and the tribal name Oodgeroo (which means “paperbark”). Her final collection of poems was published in 1988, and she died on 16 September 1993.

These Australian poets were new ones for me. A.B. “Banjo” Patterson is best known for writing “Waltzing Matilda,” which is an unofficial national anthem. He also wrote a narrative poem, "The Man From Snowy River," which was made into a film. 

A woman named Kath Walker took the name of her indigenous tribe Oodgeroo Noonuccal in 1988. Oodgeroo means “paperbark tree.” Noonuccal was the first indigenous Australian to publish a book of poetry, called "We Are Going," in 1964.

Novelists such as Miles Franklin and Nevil Shute are old favorites of mine. I remember being terrified when I read Shute’s On the Beach as a teenager.

The Writers Walk honors visiting writers as well.

Charles Darwin, best known for his book On the Origin of Species, spent two months in Australia. The capital city Darwin in the Northern Territory is named after him.

Arthur Conan Doyle, who created Sherlock Holmes, visited Australia in 1920 as part of a five-month speaking tour in Australia and New Zealand. While Sherlock Holmes is the ultimate rational character, ironically his creator was here giving lectures on spiritualism.

Sydney also offers guided tours of the Writers Walk, something I plan to do the next time we visit.