InReview InReview

SA QLD
Support independent journalism

Books & Poetry

Poem: At Season’s Turn

Books & Poetry

This week’s Poet’s Corner sees Phil Saunders reflect on a season best left behind.

Print article

At Season’s Turn

a Mitcham Hills view

At season’s turn
a moment of rest between shed and house
favourite drink in hand, cheese platter close by;
watching the breeze play through the valley
the structures of suburban life peeking through the green;
admiring the patterned bricks
a replacement for ugly roughness,
the tank unloved for thirty years
wondering why it missed out the makeover;
pet magpies delighting in the bath
no other would dare approach;
strips of eucalypt skin dangling,
expectantly awaiting release,
revealing fresh smoothness;
across the cobalt blue the wispy trail
showing travellers’ past but not their future,
drifting cumulus banks of white fluffiness
their knowledge hidden;
distant siren hinting of stranger’s distress,
faint smell of smoke from distant burn off
an unbidden reminder of a fortnight of fear
for island family;
indelible on memory
another too harsh summer best left behind
to let us face autumn’s winter.

Phil Saunders has been based in Adelaide since high school days, with forays into Melbourne, Christchurch and Sydney, and is currently a consultant in governance and operations quality control across disability and aged care. Writing has been at the core of his professional and personal life as a script writer, copy writer, policy officer, magazine and report editor and poet.

Readers’ original and unpublished poems of up to 40 lines can be emailed, with postal address, to poetscorner@solsticemedia.com.au. Submissions should be in the body of the email, not as attachments. A poetry book will be awarded to each accepted contributor.
Make a comment View comment guidelines

Support local arts journalism

Your support will help us continue the important work of InReview in publishing free professional journalism that celebrates, interrogates and amplifies arts and culture in South Australia.

Donate Here

. You are free to republish the text and graphics contained in this article online and in print, on the condition that you follow our republishing guidelines.

You must attribute the author and note prominently that the article was originally published by InReview.  You must also inlude a link to InReview. Please note that images are not generally included in this creative commons licence as in most cases we are not the copyright owner. However, if the image has an InReview photographer credit or is marked as “supplied”, you are free to republish it with the appropriate credits.

We recommend you set the canonical link of this content to https://inreview.com.au/inreview/books-and-poetry/2020/05/20/poem-at-seasons-turn/ to insure that your SEO is not penalised.

Copied to Clipboard

More Books & Poetry stories

Loading next article