many hands

1   2   3   4   5   6  7   8

day two

a Matilda tank in Matilda Place
gözleme for breakfast and oranges
from Bulga picked yesterday sweet as
sunlight on the edge of the oval
where two magpies are chasing off a crow   
the little market has everything    country callers
in full swing    two cats named Strog
and Off    beef packs and canaries in a cage
we stock up on Pink Ladies and mandarins
and leave town with an old-time medley
on special today drifting from the rotunda

we bought a knife in Denman
to cut the Bulga oranges    we raced
a coal train and the valley fell away
in a green tilt that became a dividing
the dividing    The Great Dividing Range
hoopla! we listen to the frogs and parrots
of an unmarked stop beside the road
some hills some plains some cloud
some highway a bag of macadamias
the Ladies and the mandarins    life is good
and we’ve found the Blue Biddy
in Dunedoo right where Martin told us
it would be    a skinny breeze
information on a board and the train
departing with a lonesome whistle
in the early afternoon

what is a gramma?
and where is the rest of the solar system
on a scale of -38 million miles
if Neptune is here in Dunedoo
and the sun is an observatory dome
down the road in Siding Spring?

BLUE BIDDY        WHITE ROSE      BLACK SWAN
WHITE ROSE       BLACK SWAN     BLUE BIDDY
BLACK SWAN      BLUE BIDDY       WHITE ROSE

at the White Rose we order
ham sandwiches that come in perky triangles
with a doily underneath    we’re washing
off the dust and making jukebox selections
when in walks Martin with the ghost
of Ludwig Becker who camped
with the supply party a long way west of here
as the Victorian Exploring Expedition
staggered towards oblivion    what Herr Becker
wouldn’t have given for a bed at the Blue Biddy
a shower at the Black Swan or souvlaki
at the White Rose where Martin is asking
whether they should join us in the original décor
or take the smokers’ seats outside
Becker opts for the street where he can observe
the utes with their roo bars and sketch
the delicate beauty of gum leaves
shingling in the wind    they’re good companions
these two and it’s with regret they part
near sunset    Becker for his dingy tent
Martin heading for the Golden Highway
that will swing him into another orbit   
we watch them rolling away
and take a last look at outer space    
for Dubbo on the Mitchell Highway
is where we roost tonight
 

©Michele Leggott