June 15th, 2020Bulldog Ants Strike Back

That time of grief

caused so much damage

and death. Remember the scramble

for air and light

when the blue toxic fog rolled in

and all earth’s furies were heaped

upon us. Smothered

in lies and the reek

of waste-paper islands,

as tongue flicks wiped

out our health,

homes demolished,

food supplies deemed

as expendable as pay-rises.

Scabs formed over calluses.

We felt the sprinkle

from foetid pink bats.

Our strength was taxed

beyond endurance.

Laments have gone

and we steel our thinkers

for the climb to freedom.

We redeem the song-lines

of confidence. The wind shuffles

the stars as we realign the nest.

– Gael Elliot

Gael was born in Swan Hill 1943 and finally settled in Trentham in 1998.

‘You may start a poem but the resulting words may be entirely different from what you started out to write.’

Poems for Local Lines come predominantly from a group of poets. However, other locals who would like a poem considered for publication can contact Bill Wootton – cottlesbreedge@gmail.com