behind a grey felt hat
with a peacock feather
a pale road crosses
a sandy hilltop
a blur of sand dunes
and a white blue sky
disappear
into the grey sea
of Lady Bay
beneath the hat
the clean-shaven face
of an endlessly travelling
man he is saying
he can see to the end
of the plains and the start
of the mountains
the man is my father
we buried him
in Warrnambool cemetery
an afternoon’s stroll
from his birthplace
the sky over his grave
a layer of lilac
between grassy hills
(from Velvet Waters by Gerald Murnane)
