Poem: The Hills Are There Again Today
In this week’s Poet’s Corner, Susan O’Brien writes of the Fleurieu Peninsula’s Finniss River Gorge.
Photo: Howard Russell
The Hills Are There Again Today
Six hundred million years or more these hills so still, have spun around our sun Each day tree-spotted flanks submit to heat or wind or rain Reefs of rocks break through the slopes old scabs from ancient fire inviting lightning strikes Cloud shadows give a slow caress to hips and thighs of summer hills Unerringly, unravelled skeins of sheep tracks map the safest paths Raptors ride the thermals as the hills exhale; the oom of bronzewing pigeons keeps the pulse Today the hills are cleavages: a moss of green down in the gorge Six hundred million years or so these hills have ranged this valley round ...
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Susan O’Brien lives half of her time off the grid overlooking the gorge of the Finniss River and the other half in Adelaide’s CBD. Since recent semi-retirement from medical practice as a GP with a specific interest in mental health, she has started to capture her poems on the page, writing about what the natural world may present. A particular associated delight is South Australia’s produce, in its wines, olives and other Mediterranean fruits. As well as on InDaily, her poems have appeared in Friendly Street anthologies, and she has read at the Coriole vineyard and on 101.5 FM Radio Adelaide’s Gastronaut program.