24 July 2011

Not begging: poem


Aborignal lad
bare-chested and painted
breathes life inexpertly
to the didgeridoo.

Occasional coins tossed
by fast moving shoppers
turning their faces from
an invisible truth.

His elders are long dead
from the grog and disease,
or soon will be dreaming,
so he's travelling alone.

But he is not begging;
he plays us a glimpse of
a hard-won achievement,
that should fill us with awe.

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