102 7 3
|
Let’s cast a sweeping look across this Apple Isle and see in a valley, little known to the mainland, a garden gnarled like old man’s hands behind a crumbling house of red and ochre brick.
|
35 2 1
|
I stand near the old pier, looking out over Lake Wendouree. There has been enough rain to make a difference - the lake is filling slowly and soon it will cover Edith Delaney’s secret forever or for at least another lifetime.
|
1808 9 5
|
423 days.
The old man still possessed the child-like habit of biting his lower lip when he wrote. The thick skin as dry as pork rind. He recorded the days without rain in a spare, makeshift almanac. The pages waxened from the soiled press of his hand
|
2 0 0
|
With the sudden thrust//
of April green, we can forget/
our drought continues.
|
983 6 6
|
With the sudden thrust//
of April green, we can forget/
our drought continues.
|
1457 20 12
|
burnt-up leaves rustle and fall
|
1280 21 11
|
In a time of drought,/
the sound of rain is sweet/
and joyful music.
|
834 14 9
|
... and August's drought/
will yellow lawns, singe the shrubs,/
and amplify cicada song.
|