miles away
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Miles Away
aaafrom Poems for a Dead FatherI remember my feet
on the cold kitchen lino
that morning
aaaa teenager with
bumfluff & pimples
aaai was leaning over
the kitchen table
aaamost of its red & white
marbled laminex top
covered in the morning
newspaperas i stood above it all
aaai read there was a war
in the jungles of Vietnam
aaa& they were sending AussiesVietnam I thought
aaaVietnam . . .
where the hell is Vietnam& i found The Jacaranda Atlas
from school
aaaVietnamaaai kept thinking -
it must be next to Queensland
aaabut it wasn'tit took a while but i did
find it
aaait was on page 75 -
& it was miles awayas i stared at the map
aaai thought about the madness
the old man lived with
aaa& how he served
in the Middle East& i thought about the madness
uncle Bronte lived with
aaa& how he served
in New Guinea& i thought about the madness
cousin Neville lived with
aaa& how he served
in KoreaVietnamaaai thought
aaaVietnam . . .
& i knew then
aaaknew then i was going -
nowhere.this poem is discussed in the study guide to Poems for a Dead Father
| My work has been set on the prescribed text list in Tasmania for Independent Study by English Studies students. Download pdf (116k) Mark Seymour and the Melbourne Workers' Theatre are working up a new show on building workers. Mark has combined a couple of my poems 'Overtime' and 'The Violence of Work' and has produced a demo of a new song 'Monday to Friday'. I'll keep you posted Visit the ABC website: hear me discussing my life and my poetry Fighting racism on the Northern Plains punch
on punch off poster series
Check out Phil Doyle's discussion of my work in the September 2004 Workers Online Listen to my 18 October discussion with Life Matters' Julie McCrossin Jane Sullivan's piece on me in the Age, Sat 30 October 2004 Interviewed by James Griffin on 'The Last Word' |
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