FROM THE EDITOR
I had a request to publish two poems, one each by a Launceston couple. To publish them together, said one of the couple, would be “romantic”. Both poems were inspired by a “snowy weekend” at Waldheim Cabins in the Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park. Romantic indeed. The poems meet the two criteria for Forty South publication: good writing about things Tasmanian. The romance is a bonus.
November at Cradle
The hillside, dwarfed by towering rock, is primeval in its bleakness today.
Gondwana trees drip, gothic.
And for sure the currawongs, sinister orange eyes vigilant,
know something we don’t.
Some Novembers, among the button-grass
a mother allows us a peek at her newest treasure,
tiny muzzle peeking out the back, so that
this Lady of the Lake appears two-headed
(well she is, for a time!)
Not this time.
The puggles are snug today, cradled
from the driving snow that stings our cheeks,
while their earth-mothers graze, impervious.
On the boardwalk
nature’s little tanks leave cubic tokens
(of disdain? I can’t believe that; surely they know we love them!).
No, I think just a reminder:
You’re here at our pleasure. Remember this.
We smother giggles like children
and only when a westerly threatens to crystallise us
do we head back, bedraggled, joyous,
for the warm little hut that’s our pouch.
~ Roie Thomas
Happy Place
The Pandanus Sisters
tall and proud, look for all the world
about to regale us with Respect Yourself.
Little birds flit, oblivious to their celebrity.
And water.
Water everywhere
underfoot, in the face, on the trees.
Wallabies (pademelons?)
bounce with ease, despite some Heavy Pouch Cargo.
Down below, wombats trundle
taking thousands of little bites,
keeping themselves to themselves.
Me, I’m just happy to be here.
~ Adrian Lewis
Roie Thomas is a Launceston English teacher, researcher and writer. She loves to travel and explore, but especially where there are trees, mountains, snow and wombats.
Adrian Lewis is a Launceston teacher who has been bushwalker for 50 years, first in the UK, now in Australia, and in particular the Tasmanian high country.
