Wartime Melbourne, the landscape of childhood
warmth of the mother’s lap, her singing
…………….that never dispelled the darkness, whorled
knotholes in oak doorways, horned animals
……..eyes watching, ominous… the father’s tread
in the hallway, marking his leave….. like a troopship
…………….…………….…….cranking onto the dim coast.

Later, the hills and valleys of a country township
……….gateways to freedom… the bike with no brakes
the river, floating under green willows
the tug of water. …Then windswept Monaro
………………its freezing high country, snow falling
in winter, blocking the narrow passes
…………….…………….…….the colour of first light.

Sometimes, in sleep, I go back
………..to the bleached sky, the sandy river-stones
…………….…………that sense of a home, somewhere.

*

A premature marriage, the voices of children
…..a kind of promise… the weatherboard bungalow
a large backyard, with trampoline, swings
…..…..…..…..…..pets and cubbies, all the trappings
of straitjacketed suburb …and in due time
…..a somewhat feckless lover.

………………..We return differently, after leaving.

In the jacaranda season, home now
…..…..…..a leafy townhouse, amid eastern beaches
the purity of water, speaks of
……………………………..endless escarpments
the whales’ unearthly sounds, urgent
…..…..…..…..…..and high-pitched, conjuring
…..…..…..…..…..…..…..the way songs pause in me.

**

Margaret Bradstock is a Sydney poet, critic and editor. She has been a Senior Lecturer at UNSW, Asialink writer-in-residence at Beijing University, and on the Board of Directors for Australian Poetry. Her poetry is widely published and has won awards, including the Wesley Michel Wright Prize for “The Pomelo Tree” and the Woollahra Festival Award for “Barnacle Rock”. Alchemy of the Sun is her ninth collection.

P76 issue 9: Poetries of place/ displacement/ diaspora/ odyssey: On-line Edition. Table of Contents