BOOK LAUNCH - 25th June at Perth Poetry Club - Moon Cafe, North Perth
After years of writing, editing and publishing his poetry for enthusiastic readers in Australia and overseas, Perth poet David Barnes has at last created a book.
Spanning a lifetime, crafted with care, spoken in David’s inimitable, gentle Australian voice, these are poems of the stark spirituality of nature, the meeting of eyes, hands and souls, the joy and bewilderment of birth, the tearing grief of premature loss and the horror of abuse.
This is David Barnes first book.
If only I had known her
Parched
was the photo that arrived
on January 4th, 1999,
corners curled, brown with age.
In the photo
a young woman held a child—smiling,
rosy cheeks, blonde hair,
brown eyes gazing,
two hands
holding teddy—in her arms.
She had a gentle face,
rich auburn hair
curling around her neck,
a dress of deep blue velvet.
On her wrist
time stood still... captured.
Leather band, gold watch
on white skin.
She smiles, radiant, at me.
On the back:
Mum, July 1944,
David, thirteen months old,
Betty Reid...
11/11/1923 to 15/6/1994
David Edward Barnes.
It was me, a child.
It was my mother, a woman I never knew.
She was beautiful.
If only I had known her,
held her in my arms, wept upon her shoulder—a man—
and said, ‘I love you, mum.’
It's too late.
The photo came too late.
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Go to the publisher's site, Coral Carter's MULLA MULLA PRESS to buy online http://www.mullamullapress.com/prayers
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