The centre of the universe is here

October 14, 2026

1 hour

Mary Blackwood

East Coast, Tasmania

The centre of the universe is here.

Grey timber posts deep rooted in the ground

in rhythms of the season and the year.

My people come for holidays. I hear

the creaking gate, the children running down.

The centre of their universe is here.

The welcome swallows dive and loop and veer.

Their birthplace every spring: each family’s found

the rhythms of the season, of the year.

Midsummer barbecues. It’s hot and clear

as bushfires threaten, breakers crash and pound.

The centre of the universe is here.

The winter wind blows high and cold and shear.

My southern windows rattle all around

in rhythms of the season, and the year

My people lock and leave. They disappear.

I settle back. The silence is profound.

The centre of the universe is here

in rhythm with the seasons and the year.

Mary Blackwood

Mary Blackwood’s poems have been published over four decades since the 1970s. In March 2022 Ginninderra published her collected poems under the title “Small Cosmos”. She was one of four poets who authored the poetry collection “The Dear Four”, published by Walleah Press in December 2025. Her rhyming children’s picture book “Derek the Dinosaur”, illustrated by Kerry Argent, was first published in 1987 by Omnibus Books, reprinted seven times, and published in America and Korea. Mary Blackwood worked in Tasmania as a clinical psychologist and later in senior health management roles, most notably in mental health. She retired in 2013 and lives in Hobart.