In the hard, bright, shining Sun,
There in the Mallee, there in the South.
The family gathered despite the drought,
There in the Mallee, there in the South.
And the women were dressed in their brightest things,
The babies chewed on their teething rings,
While the men discussed what the weather brings.
There in the Mallee, there in the South.
 
Uncle Charlie and I, we sat outside,
There in the Mallee, there in the South.
I had told him my job, of my soldierly pride,
There in the Mallee, there in the South.
As we sat in the shade with our glasses of port
I had no idea what the old man thought
As I described the Army and those of my sort
There in the Mallee, there in the South.
 
When I had finished he poured more port from the flagon,
There in the Mallee, there in the South,
As we sat in the shade of an old hay wagon,
There in the Mallee, there in the South.
He said to me 'son, I think if you must
Serve in the Army, that's fine, but just
What do you actually do for a crust?'
He said, there in the Mallee, there in South.
 
In the hard, bright, shining Sun,
There in the Mallee, there in the South.
The family gathered despite the drought,
There in the Mallee, there in the South.
While the men discussed what the weather brings
And the babies chewed on their teething rings
Uncle Charlie and I spoke of other things
There in the Mallee, there in the South.

I do need to talk

about my grief, he thinks that --


this would be unwise.

The more concretely

you tell a story, the less --


you'll be understood.

He is not a spy

and not a child, just silly --


with his secrecy.

She calls a street street,

but does not know bridges, and --


does not know dead ends.

I just let the pointless anger
rage around in my head
and bang the door

behind my sadness
to search for a way out
of your incomprehension

which I can not bear
I am suffering, knowing not
to be a child, you're not my mother

who could read my face
whether open or closed
We have to take pains:

married love, wanting
to go together through life
under a yoke, not running away

after the years of romance

You left me…
Almost speechless
Like when everything you want to say actually shuts you up
There were flashes of discourses by the greatest men ever
Lyrics to the songs that you never understood
But also there was silence that you would not have respected
Mixed in with a whisper just not loud enough to hear
Ironic how three words, you deemed suited for this moment
Spurred such a stream of simultaneous shush and scream
That gave me both the will to ignore your words forever
As it did the urge to tell you everything to your face

The belief your life is over
With nothing to be done
Its last part in isolation
Waiting
For the pain to become too much
The pain, the pain
Staring at the same walls
Forty-six days in a row
Never knowing whether
Tomorrow you’ll wake up
And if there is, if you’ll survive
A future left in store
Delirium, depression
A hole left in your soul
Then coming out on the other side
Only to realize
Everyone has moved on

Then who are you to utter these three words to my face
Who are you to dictate how my life after that should change
The words you chose so carelessly, I will take to the heart
Just not to leave the past behind but to make a brand new start
I’ll look you in the eye and use your words  against you
When I tell you how I am about to
“Get over it”