Adelaide Hills poet Lynda Becker has previously lived in South Australia’s outback, the subject of a work-in-progress collection of poems and inspiration for today’s Poet’s Corner contribution.

Arid Lands

Flat plains
punctuated by rising mesas.
Old volcanic in nature
flat table tops
sudden statements made against
blue skies.
Bushes dot the landscape
struggling to survive the climate,
searing heat
like an open oven door.
Further on the mulga;
old saltbush
the great survivor.
Man enters at his peril
but long straight roads crisscross,
bitumen unlimited
the traveler’s dream.
Burnt out heaps at the roadside
tell the story
be sure of the footing
and wander not into the arid land.

Lynda Becker was an original contributor to Poet’s Corner in its Independent Weekly print days. “Poems From That Forbidden Landscape of the Broken Heart”, about her experiences growing up in London’s then working-class Thameside Fulham, was published in 2009 and reviewed in The Independent Weekly.

Readers’ original and unpublished poems up to 30 lines can be emailed, with postal address, to [email protected]. A poetry book will be awarded to each contributor.