Poems
-
Inveresk
By Nick FlittnerUnder these folds of tin
men worked.
Vertical panels
to hold in the noise -
Downhill Run
By Chris WilliamsNot far now
Coupla hours
Can’t go soon enough for me
Jeeze I’m tired -
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 -
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, -
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 -
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. -
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. -
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 -
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. -
Drought
By Nick FlittnerImplication – dry means
not wet
but does it also mean
no life? -
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 -
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 -
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. -
Freight and flight
By Judith BishopDawn heat, tarred sky
pink-striped on the horizon
beyond the lights of Darwin and the coast.
-
Stars
By Chris WilliamsFunny things stars
Something you take for granted
They’re there
Always have been -
Cradle Mountain
By Nick FlittnerAbove the Dove
looms the Cradle
where someone died last year
a fatal attraction -
Just a Trucking Nightmare
By Noel CauserAustralia grew on icons
That inspired the nation’s heart,
And it’s hard to really fathom
Where this tale of woe should start. -
Calenture
By Lindsay Tugglefurther:
past fuel silos and stilted houses
the median now feverish halting -
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 -
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.
