I've been wondering about the poets who sing the songs of the hard times.
The Australian poet, Bruce Dawe, comes to mind. He writes about ordinary people in the context of historical events and the society they live in.
'Sometimes Gladness', the collection of Dawe's poems written between 1954 and 1992, has been studied by thousands of high school students in their senior years at school and it's one of my favourite books of poetry.
The poem, 'Drifters' was written in 1968 when Australia was supposedly in an era of full employment. The people in this poem have very little but there is also a certain richness in their lives in the sense of close family connections and connection with the natural world. How recognisable are Dawe's drifters in Australian society today?
Drifters
One day soon he'll tell her it's time to start packing,
and the kids will yell 'Truly?' and get wildly excited for no reason,
and the brown kelpie pup will start dashing about, tripping everyone up,
and she'll go out to the vegetable-patch and pick all the green tomatoes from the vines,
and notice how the oldest girl is close to tears because she was happy here,
and how the youngest girl is beaming because she wasn't.
And the first thing she'll put on the trailer will be the bottling-set she never unpacked from Grovedale,
and when the loaded ute bumps down the drive past the blackberry-canes with their last shrivelled fruit,
she won't even ask why they're leaving this time, or where they're heading for
- she'll only remember how, when they came here,
she held out her hands bright with berries,
the first of the season, and said,
'Make a wish, Tom, make a wish.'
TAR : To Apprehend Relativity
9 months ago
1 comment:
Di,
I found this poem today on AuthorsDen.com:
We are Headed for Recession
by Alicia S Walker
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
This poem talks about the recession and the state that we are in economically in the year 2008.
We Are Headed for Recession
What is this obsession
with the recession
Do you think its a blessing?
No.
As we stare in disbelief of inflation
my imagination run wild
It cost to be the boss
invaded the iraqi soil
all in the name of oil
civil unrest, trying to bring peace out of harm
innocent victims caught in the crossfire of bombs
As the economy crumble
leaving us numb and humble
Its like taking a trip to outerspace
to see the changes on so many face
the stress, depression, and financial woes
the body grows tired and weary after so many blows
The U.S. dollar dropped
as the housing market plunged and flopped
gas prices sky high
As the rate of foreclosures rise
hang them high by their toes
is all that the rich folk knows
rob them of every dime
and treat them as if their blind
A republican party filled with cover-ups and corruption
A republican party that took an economy into destruction
the U.S. one of the most powerful countries in the world
the american dream of any man, woman, boy or girl
the unemployment and divorce rate continue to grow
the morale of families are at an all time low
Its 2008, a time for change, a campaign and new things
A primary election with an ala carte selection
A black democratic male, and a white democratic female
we can't forget about the white republican male that might bring us more hell
Does it matter whether the candidates are red, white, black, blue, or purple
or is it about who can get us over the crisis of the economic hurdle
the U.S. is somehow slipping into darkness
we have to change management and recover
before we get buried and smothered
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