Page 19 - eMuse Vol.9 No.03_Classical
P. 19
Little E muse
Little Emuse
OUR POETRY KIDS
OUR POETR
Y KIDS
Featuring more poems from the
Ipswich Poetry Feast from chil-
with Brenda Joy
with Brenda Joy
dren aged 8 –13 years.
THE TANAMI
by Rafaela Southon
Third Prize
Broderick Family Award The haunting winds called his name and so
Ipswich Poetry Feast - 11 - 13 years into the desert
I watch the flocks of native birds take flight, I wandered, vaguely off into
high above me the unforgiving desert
Soaring towards the painted Western sky Running away putting all of my trust into hoping
And wish it were me making my way home. That Destiny would save me.
But the desert is wide and vast and empty So once again I turn my face to the waning afternoon light
And the heat taunts me with visions of cool waters Towards the flocks of birds that race towards the gently sinking sun
Around a beautiful billabong, Pinks and oranges light the sky in a beatific vision
where birds and animals seek respite But soon it will again be night, and cold
Amongst the coolibahs and deep ferns. And I will still be alone
The deep crevices and fissures And tomorrow, with the rising of the sun,
Within the ancient rock formations I must start again.
Sheltering against the relentless heat To find a place of rest
Forty five degrees. Until Help and Destiny come find me
But there is no shelter for me, And deliver me home .
Alone, amidst the vast, lonely spaces © 2019 Rafaela Southon (at age 11)
Of the great Tanami Desert. The above poem was pre-published on the Ipswich Poetry Feast
Stretching interminably across time and space Website, October 2018.
An ancient land . www.ipswichpoetryfeast.com.au
Endless horizons of sweat and sparse spinifex
And rocky hills, where the scorpion and snake reside.
Oh, there are water holes in this vast wilderness
Secret rock holes full of sweet water
To drink . And survive . And never die .
But, I cannot find the water holes
neither can I locate the billabongs.
like the ancient Kukatja, Tjurabalan and Walpiri A little gem from a pupil of the ASPIRE program of the Citipointe
peoples of this land, Chanamee Christian College, Carindale, Queensland.
Those who knew the stories and the tracks
That made the difference between life and death. MY WOBBLY TOOTH
And could read the signs to safety and family
And the warmth of shared campfires by Ruth Rodriguez
Under a million glistening stars . It was my first wobbly tooth
At one with the Heavens. I showed it to my friends
My family is gone. I told my whole family
The wild dogs howl in the darkness. It wobbled it all weekend.
Silent midnight sands Then later, my Mum told me
gently cover the body of my father. “Don’t wobble it so much!
A lonely burial for a man It will grow sideways,
entombed in a shattered aircraft. So you shouldn’t touch!”
And Help was late in her coming,
And so I set off, foolishly. I had a dream I lost my tooth
Against all good sense and advice In the morning it was gone!
And everything he had ever taught me . I thought that I had swallowed it
But I couldn’t stay the loneliness I searched until dawn.
crept up on me as © 2019 Ruth Rodriguez (at age 7)
March 2020 eMuse 19
