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Catalyst Anthology: Nini Priestley

Home, in the Day of a Pandemic

Nini Priestley

 

Nini Priestley is a prolific writer who lives in Tocumwal and was part of Shepparton WGRO in 2019. This thoughtful and reflective poem is just one example of her versatility and her deep experience in writing and life.

 


 

The late afternoon sun streams through the window,

over the top of the lamp on the table beside me.

Hitting the wall on the far side of the room.

The fire is burning in the wood heater at my feet.

I have a little ball of white fluff curled up beside my legs.

A book opened on my lap, a cup of coffee on the table beside me.

 

Charlie and Jess, the kookaburras, sit on a tree outside,

softly laughing to themselves to let us

know they are waiting to be fed.

The watermelon sun of autumn is sinking below the trees,

shining through the lace curtain beside the brick chimney.

 

The day work is done, outside the lawn is freshly mowed,

the red roses are in full bloom as well as the pink cabbage one.

The trees we planted late last year just have their buds on them.

This is my home where I lived and worked for twenty odd years.

I have seen food rationing twice in my lifetime.

 

I have been a weaver and a mother, a gardener,

a three times great-grandmother.

And sometimes I just want to stop.

For I have lived through polio, the Second World War,

Korean War, diphtheria, protests, Vietnam,

droughts, Covid 19, and Trump.

 


 

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