Views from a train

 

Natti River, Mittagong, Bund, Tallong, Towrang,

Unfamiliar echoes of our past

But today they fly past the carriage window

And inactive we observe a cinematic view

Forgotten  scenes

Of bypassed country towns.

 

The  stations wear a defiant gloss

And on platforms

The old family rituals prevail

Differing only in dress

 

Lovers still cling to every second

And wave until our screen has long refocussed

Parents stand proudly

As just post adolescent children move on

Uncertain whether to hug or shake hands

While others, returning, seem

Carefree to be home

 

And the now diesel iron horse

Still carries vital supplies

 

The hills of the sheep’s back roll past

Dotted like ancient landscapes

But now interspersed

With blue gum and vine

And labour free modernities

 

Rotting sleeper mounds

Replaced with functional

Green sensitive soulless concrete

Provide documentary comment

 

Decaying sheds with

Ragged stacks of rusting dreams

A sepia reminder

Of glories past

 

Sudden splashes of colour

Ochre, red and black

Redolent of the scope and age

Of this Australia

Its dotted treescapes

Vast horizons

Portentous clouds

 

The curtain of skyscrapers

And urban sprawl

Draws across our screen

We leave our seats

And return to the  world we know

Enriched by images

Of how we got here

And what we have lost.

 

 

[ Reflections on a train trip from Sydney to Melbourne]

 

 

Les Littleford     May 2009