This week’s Poet’s Corner contribution is from Damian Balassone.
Goin’ to Cunjiwindi
to find a brown-skinned queen.
Fishin’ for barramundi
by this ever-flowing stream.
Pluckin’ a purple lily
for that girl I’ve never seen,
For I was once the dreamer
but now I am the dream.
Queen of ’jiwindi, come take my hand,
for we are both strangers in our own home land.
Trekkin’ across the canyons
as day turns into night,
But when I find my baby
I know I’ll be alright,
For she lights up the darkness
like a luminescent kite,
And all who see her beauty
are bathed in beams of light.
Queen of ’jiwindi, come take my hand,
for we are both strangers in our own home land.
Yes, I’m goin’ to Cunjiwindi,
to Cunjiwindi Fair,
And when I reach that country,
I know that she’ll be there
To guide me through the darkness,
towards the ancient stream,
For I was once the dreamer
but now I am the dream.
Queen of ’jiwindi, come take my hand,
for we are both strangers in our own home land.
Damian Balassone, from Warrandyte, Victoria, is the author of three volumes of poetry, including the forthcoming collection of short poems and epigrams ‘Love is a Weird Cat’. His poems have also appeared in more than 100 other Australian and international publications, notably in the New York Times, The Australian, The Canberra Times and The Spectator. Les Murray, seen as Australia’s uncrowned poet laureate, called Damian in respect to his work, ‘A virtuoso’. More about Damian and his poetry can be found here.