Where I'm From

Where I'm From

Shadrach the cattle dog, long gone but in my heart,
Made me forget my worries with his wide grin,
wagging tail and ready to work attitude.

                            The farm was ubiquitous
It was my youth, collecting eggs from the chooks
Milking cows and exploring paddock corners.
I learnt respect for nature's rules.

                            The gully rarely filled with water
Witnessing birth and death, made sense to me then
My father's practical sense, my mother grew vegetables.
My siblings found their own loves and losses.

                            Then big city adventures
Where nobody cared but you had to care for something
I often bonded with other country folk
Treading concrete tracks, painted by dusk.

                            A culture of observation
Skyline marked by sea and sand and pine trees
The farmers daughter moves quietly on.


by Wendy Taleo (2021)

Also posted here https://wentalearn.blogspot.com/2021/02/where-im-from.html