Closed Up

Closed up
winter house
Huddled in
rooms shut off
for months
to keep warm
Sunny promising day
after cold sleeting rain
night time power blackout
Shake out the carpets
Move the furniture
Open all the doors
Let the sunshine in

Canberra, Australia
September 2015

Besham

Red bougainvilleas over the doorway
swaying in the warm autumn wind
fine silvery sand blown up
from the banks of the Indus
silence broken by river rapids
a low dull roar echoing
off the rocky mountainsides
the smell of wood smoke
a woman dressed in red
washing clothes by the river
her daughter brushing tangled hair
her son collecting gum leaves
for a long-haired brown and white goat
with twisted horns
peaceful life
but I must push on

Return from Besham

wrapped in yellow green shawl
voluminous to completely cover
a woman
crouched high above
grey green Indus river

Islamabad, Pakistan
26 November 1994