Selected poems
Harlequin country
Along the tree lined rural highway
past paddocks where canola gleams
so cars stop for golden photographs
past paddocks where sheep graze
then clumps of darker remnant eucalypts
distant hills wear dancing patches of colour.
We drive towards the winding Boorawa River
and the town of Boorawa
a working town in merino country
from early Irish immigrants.
The church conrasts local yellow sandstone with greenstone
and is unlocked even during this Woolfest Day
when thousands of visitors line the main street
of nineteenth century formal buildings
shops and post great war red brick houses.
There are few frills some iron lacework.
Bands pipe down the main street
one orange, one green then community groups
with troupers in antique uniforms firing loud guns
followed by a flock of sheep and a float with shearers
fast and clean on electric clippers or blade.
A crowd watches kelpie working dogs train.
Lunch is nostalgic Guinness pie with chips.
Hijab wearing women sell sweet cakes at a stall.
Asian stalls offer savory plates.
The town wears patches that richly contrast.
Joy to the town
Early farms that grazed this Yorta Yorta country
drew in the bank and a chemist shop
that sold remedies for people, horses and cattle.
After gold was found nearby
Chiltern surged with shops, houses, official stone
and hotels to look after travellers
between Sydney and Melbourne on the gold road.
A sherry grapevine planted then still grows.
Now many live here but work in nearby large towns
midweek the main street is almost deserted.
This Christmas, coloured knitting brightens the town.
The butcher’s pig wears red and white.
Most poles on main street are clothed
with patterned red, green and white wraps.
At the crib the figures show many colours.
Paul Williamson is an Australian poet. He has published poems in Australia, UK, US, Canada and Japan. His has seven collections including Edge of Southern Bright (Ginninderra Press, 2017) and A Hint of Eden (Ginninderra Press, 2021). He contributed to and participated in the release of the Canberra/Nara Twin City tanka poetry volume in Nara, Japan in late 2018.