Bridges

In New South Wales

bridges tell the tale

of life's travail

for the not so beautiful elite

@poetry = The homeless out of work

share a space of dirt

beneath your bridges

under the souls of your feet

@poetry = There's no dreaming here

romance is out of date

beauty is the sadness

of a quintessential fate

@poetry = Mums 'n kids share

8 x 2 tin cans with lids

and wait for that day of the meek

but it won't be this week

@poetry = There communards

sleep by streets

on a park bench

where the soup kitchen meets

@poetry = Real jobs have gone

old industries fled

and the rest of youse

have left us for dead

@poetry = In New South Wales

histories tell the tale

of a social elite

with mud at their feet

@poetry = and egos that never skip a beat

[Karen Davies is a full writer member of the Australasian Performing Rights Association. She is a well educated individual with many credits to her name. Even so, Davies and her daughter experienced sub-standard and crisis housing while trying to relocate to the Northern Rivers area. This poem was written in response to this experience. Davies is very mindful that others in a similar position might not have the same resources to change their predicament.]

From GLW issue 735