A SCROLL FOR PEACE
Those not shivering a bit
In the bizarre biting blizzard
On the treacherous trail
To the cliff top tower
Had their fettered feet
Freed forever
Cords snapped off
From their anchors
+
Those not stumbling
On the steep slippery rocks
Had their rib cages
Ballooned to pull them up
Arms fondly hugging
Deep warm breath
Of their life long mates
Left behind on the steps
+
Those not looking back
Over the trodden slopes
Down the terrain
Had their gaze fixed
On the tower's dome
Gracing the summit
To keep their burning quest
Pinned to their bosoms.
+
Those not resonating
Their favourite chants
Had their vibrant lines
Neatly embroidered
With hooked needles
On spreads of silk
Tucked into their
Wriggling spines
+
The words were steaming hot
To wake up mummies
From their eon long
Mouldy slumber
The maze of colours
Beaming dazzling plumes
Of dancing peacocks
Before their glassy eyes
+
Cascading down a flame tree
The scroll fluttered
To let them go
From their stuffy chambers
Over the open fields
Beyond the dunes
Beyond the valleys
Beyond the seas
+
Those not drumming
At deaf ears
Not beating chests
Before frozen faces
Had their air vented
Every corner
Presence stretched
Beyond horizons
+
Those not making signs
Not humming melodies
Not despatching doves
With bold festoons
Had their warm hands touched
The grips behind the shields
Switched on lights in the trenches
Whispered peace into their bones
+
Those not bustling anymore
Had dug out their stuff bare
To bring tranquillity
And cool to the marrow
A downpour of pearly rain
Over grey sands
A flood of sparkling rhythms
Over fractured limbs
+
On the long white beach
Where kin and neighbours
And visitors from the ranches
Gathered in a frenzy
The children screamed
'Have they gone, gone forever'?
The echo returned
And promptly tattooed
+
On their wiggly backs
With blow paint
In dark waxy
Bubbly blobs
'We are here, we are with you.'
Then the charred souls
Waving their hands
Set off for the cliff top tower
+
That was in smoko time
Last fall at Manhattan
When the lotus bloomed
In the heart shaped lake
Not far away
From the other towers
Sprinkling hot ashes over the trail
To the summit's dome.
September 2002 Casuarina NT