This story was published in The Big Issue in January 2013. A shorter version was broadcast on ABC 774 on 20 January 2017. IT IS the day before Australia Day 2012 and a man is asking me the name of this part of the country. The traditional name. It is six in the morning, on […]
Here is a slightly longer version of The Eastern Shore, first published in The Big Issue #603, 10-23 January 2020. IT WAS the summer he swam from the eastern shore of the small suburban beach. Not that he ever swam very far. One hundred metres maybe. Rarely beyond the points of the basalt groynes […]
The Big Issue has just published The Eastern Shore, a story about a restless summer. You’ll find the story in edition #603, which also has stories about Ash Barty, Beck, the Kelly Gang, Tim Winton, James Dean, and the marvellous book Places We Swim. You’ll find The Big Issue via a local vendor or by […]
Thanks to Hobsons Bay Libraries, a little reflection of mine is part of a booklet celebrating the importance of libraries.
This is a very (very, very, very) light poem. It’s like raindrops in a sun shower. The words almost disappear before you’ve read them. Every twelve hours If we could Sunrise and sunset Dawn and dusk Togs and towel Midday and midnight If you wish High noon and high moon Every twelve hours If […]
Bill Bailey’s nephews Bill Bailey’s two nephews Walk the streets Of the inner west Together Millers Road Mason Street Melbourne Road Bill Bailey’s nephews Wear their hair long The recession from their foreheads Sometimes hidden by caps One black One red Blackshaws Road Maddox Road The Avenue Mid-twenties Students? Out of work? Casual jobs? […]
Miss Communique The wind shifts The smoke signal drifts Miss communique Dark clouds gather Rain on its way The storm Drowns out The beating of the drums The pigeon flaps Into bad weather Its instincts turn haywire Relay runners drop their batons The town-crier is crook Too hoarse to call The news of the fall […]
January 29, 2013
2