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Walking man

by Anne Elvey

Brenda Saunders

 

He walked this country with the eye

of a newcomer, showed us how to see

close up, take in the sweep of distance,

the shimmer on a paddock in drought.

Leaves us his long shadow striding

the slope, the sun always at his back.

I read, follow his footsteps, listen

to the accented lilt, the rise and fall

of  his words, notes in a vast sound-scape.

He contemplates the notion of fire

loss and renewal, how a land left bare

flickers still under the seeming emptiness.

He stretches an image on a line

in a walking meditation across the page.

 

Brenda Saunders wrote “Walking man” as a tribute to Martin as a teacher/poet. She was in his poetry class at University of Technology Sydney in 2005.

An Australian and international
journal of ecopoetry and ecopoetics.

Plumwood Mountain Journal is created on the unceded lands of the Gadigal and Wangal people of the Eora Nation. We pay our respects to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and to elders past, present and future. We also acknowledge all traditional custodians of the lands this journal reaches.

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