Adelaide poet Bev Hedgman, a member of the Hill Poets group which recently published the anthology Through the Tunnel, reflects on the life stories behind the lines of an old face.

This Old Face

See this old face, under this old hat,
See lines are etched from brow to chin
And every line fills some strange part
Of all the moods that burned within.

They were not there when I was born,
They came to me along life’s way
Unbidden, squinting at the sun
Like creases etched in rock or clay.

I shared with folk along life’s road
The hope, the hurt, the broken heart,
Blinding sun, torrential rain,
Starving cattle, and fly-blown sheep.

Marauding dogs, and snakes and flies,
Rich yarns, and songs, and camp-fire lies
Of strikes of gold, of silver lodes
Of gambling, drinking, fights and oaths.

Thousand of miles lie behind me now,
Thousands of times the sun rose and set,
It’s all a jumble, confusing, uncertain,
There’s things to remember, there’s things to forget.

Take this old face, under this old hat,
Read some of the lines, know some of the moods.
See what we’ve done, know where we’ve been
Share in our journey, I’ve reached the end.

Bev Hedgman came from New Zealand in 2006. She lives in the Adelaide Hills with dog Harry and is a member of the Hill Poets group, whose second anthology Through the Tunnel was reviewed in InDaily last November. Bev also runs a writing group at the Norton Summit Community Centre and has enjoyed poetry over a lifetime, being introduced to it in her early years by one of those “special teachers.”

Readers’ original and unpublished poems up to 30 lines can be emailed, with postal address, to [email protected].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.