Autumn in Canberra

Dressed in red velvet,
a leaf in our capital.
One of an army it marches
along the road towards the hill,
along a city that doesn’t change
except for the colours of the army,
and the trees are the generals.
This city was thrown down in
a wilderness,
dice cast in the growth of a nation.
So appropriate, after all,
in a land of two-up.

Carnarvon

Sky turning from jaffa orange to rock melon,
chocolate ices mixed with mango,
bush canaries, yellow and brown.
Night, and the wind tongues around corners,
licks the washing dry.
A glass of wine on the Fascine,
a guitar pick and playing card in the carpark,
a giant ear to hear spacemen.
Carnarvon – Dampier’s secret.

Sue Clennell of Perth holds a Diploma of Librarianship from the University of NSW, Diploma of Education from Charles Sturt University (formerly Mitchell College), BA in Political Science & Government from Monash University, and a Bachelor of Letters in Journalism from Deakin University. Her poetry has been published in various journals, anthologies and newspapers in Australia and New Zealand. She has had plays performed in Sydney & Canberra’s Short and Sweet Festival, and Cabramatta’s MacArthur Festival. Poems from her CD ‘The Van Gogh Cafe’ can be found here on YouTube.

Readers’ original and unpublished poems of up to 40 lines can be emailed, with postal address, to [email protected]. Submissions should be in the body of the email, not as attachments. A poetry book will be awarded to each accepted contributor.