Great Southern Line

[Recent poem. Image of the line connecting Sydney and Melbourne being built between Moss Vale and Marulan c. 1860s.]

Great Southern Line 

It shunts its way through our lives,
                  metal snake that spines the shire. 

Here we're defined by distance,
                   acoustic assault by truck or train, 

our village timed by the loud pulse
                   of the Great Southern Line. 

Closer, it's shattering clatter-drone 
                of engine and track, further, drawn-out 

jet-rev rush of surf building like Beethoven,
                receding, disappearing back into the woven  

stillness of bird-call, fridge-hum, 
                 strange spherical emptiness of silence

fused with all 
                   the fine subtleties of sound. 

~ by Peter Lach-Newinsky on March 10, 2024.