Holiday Resort
By Craig Billingham
Published 25 October 2021
(after the painting by Jeffrey Smart)
Winter morning, the moon
shocked by sunrise. Seabirds, salt-breeze,
the sand as yet unbroken
by human feet. Are we the first
to walk here? No, such early thoughts
are foolish. Like us,
the beach
has been washed
by a second language,
by the slow
nocturnal rhythms of black water -
see how they recede
and what they've left
of us.
'Holiday Resort' was commissioned as part of a series of workshops held by poet Craig Billingham with Meghan Brunet's Year 10 English class at Pedare Christian College. During the workshops, Craig explored the Toilet Doors learning resource with the students, introducing them to guerrilla poetry concepts and methods.