Poems
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Freight and flight
By Judith BishopDawn heat, tarred sky
pink-striped on the horizon
beyond the lights of Darwin and the coast.
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Cradle Mountain
By Nick FlittnerAbove the Dove
looms the Cradle
where someone died last year
a fatal attraction -
Inveresk
By Nick FlittnerUnder these folds of tin
men worked.
Vertical panels
to hold in the noise -
The Carrier
By Brendan RyanA carrier of cows, sheep, hay and super bins.
The link between paddocks and shop,
the family man with ten kids,
bushy beard and truck cabin skin -
Johnno
By Chris WilliamsYou know, you hear a lot of stories about the road
Truckies are a superstitious bunch
Johnno was a lot that way
I remember one time we got cut off by floods going north -
Downhill Run
By Chris WilliamsNot far now
Coupla hours
Can’t go soon enough for me
Jeeze I’m tired -
Stars
By Chris WilliamsFunny things stars
Something you take for granted
They’re there
Always have been -
Calenture
By Lindsay Tugglefurther:
past fuel silos and stilted houses
the median now feverish halting -
Truckin' Hard
By Andrew Le PoidevinLife really does suck
When you’re buying your truck;
Can’t wait ’til it’s mine
So I’ve some spare time. -
two bridges over the freeway
By Bill Tibbenthe mark evans bridge
his semi ran out of its lane
and came to rest on the verge -
New Year’s Eve
By Bruce HoneywillThe steering wheel bucks as the truck broaches the storm.
wind buffets lifting dust, truck and storm race to a violent embrace
lightning splits the sky, a flash of eternity to the bass crash of thunder
nature’s alchemy, rain splashes mud-blood claret across the screen -
Thunder Road
By Mick O'BrienAt night the horsepower shakes the tyres around the wheels of chrome,
And sends this sled of fire and steel towards the lights of home;
Gears that whine a lonesome song as miles pass on by,
Stacks that crack and scream for fuel to throw into the sky. -
the jim affleck bridge
By Bill Tibbensomewhere on the southern highlands
someone stole a bowral bulldozer
and hooned it north screaming along
the lanes of a life movie in which he scripted -
Drought
By Nick FlittnerImplication – dry means
not wet
but does it also mean
no life? -
What’s a truckie’s job?
By Olivia RichardsonLet's give a little recognition
To the Aussie trucking tradition.
They're hard workin' men,
Drivin' down the road again. -
There’s nothing romantic about driving trucks
By Rhys TateThere is nothing romantic about driving trucks. That’s a given,
although people who don’t drive them often assume that you’re up there
like some large and majestic flagship. A King of the Road sailing through the traffic
below. -
Untitled
By James CollisDid you slip away early,
or was it late at night,
Bleary eyed you left us peaceful in our sleep,
for the last haul, -
Night Mistress
By David J DelaneyEyes feeling heavy, still there’s no reprieve
As every K draws me closer to my goal.
Thinking of my family, I start to grieve:
This mistress of night has taken my soul. -
The Old Bloke
By Chris WilliamsDon’t come with me no more
The old bloke
Seems funny without ‘im
Jeeze we done some miles together, went all over -
Untitled (excerpt)
By Shayne GouldBy fuck it’s a grouse night for driving my friend I’m northbound
on the Newell to Brisbane
I got a shiny big truck and I don’t give a rat’s arse if it ain’t
as big as another bloke’s truck
