Monday 25 April 2016

I was... I have become...




I come from a Sydney time when
a clothes line strung between posts
became a rotary line
when a cane wash basket
became a plastic one

I come from the necessity of a small chicken run and a veggie patch
fruit trees and
shrubs for shade

I come from the value of a big back yard
a grass one
room for playing

I come from the joy of spending time with my quiet father at weekends
just walking
together
in bushland
and sharing
wild wonders

I come from the pain of losing my father when I was only 12



I come from heady study days balancing uni and work
with no parental safety net
(my mother lived for my brother, her garden and her dogs)


I come from the struggle of turning shyness into social awareness
I come from confusion and loneliness


&&&&


I am from new beginnings

I am from heartbreak and 
desperate Tai Chi in Tasmania and 
a sudden scrappy life in Melbourne

but
I am now from peninsula worlds
where mountain and sea are my friends


I am from
my camera
seeking the beauty in small things

I am from
a dream
to teach
and live that dream


I am from
the voice
the soul
within

my poetry



Linking to:
Imaginary Garden With Real Toads - Where Do I Come From

11 comments:

brudberg said...

I really like the winding road of you life Gemma, the thought of losing your father at 12 was such a blow there, and it seems like you have looking for that road since, and finding it in poetry.

Ellecee said...

A story of a lifeline that created a strong and sensitive woman, Gemma.. I always enjoy your poems very much.

Kim M. Russell said...

Oh I love this - so similar and yet so different to my beginnings!

Sanaa Rizvi said...

Oh Gemma, this is so beautifully touching..!

Outlawyer said...

Super sweet story, and wonderful development, Gemma. (And for us, it is so interesting especially to see the Australian side of things.) k.

Sherry Blue Sky said...

What a wonderful telling of a life story. So beautiful, the walks in "wild wonders" with your father, so sad losing him so young. I especially love the turning of shyness into social awareness, and the seeing of beauty in small things.......and the voice of the soul within. A beautiful read - the human journey, in one of its facets.

Hannah said...

Love the then and now approach and the truth herein. Beautiful peninsula section.

By the way...every time I try to copy/paste a portion to quote and comment on in your comment section a security screen comes up on my computer saying I've been hacked. It only happens when I visit you...thought you should know. It's kind of a freaky thing...thinking one's being hacked. It'd be awful to lose readership from it.

Thank you for your visits, Gemma.

De Jackson said...

OH! This is stunning. I enjoyed this journey so much. And it makes me want to meet you, sharing coffee and words.

Susie Clevenger said...

Oh I love this! The honesty you share, the spirit and spunk born from some very difficult roots. Thanks so much for writing for the prompt!!

Buddah Moskowitz said...

Absolutely wonderful - I love the two-part journey.

Rosemary Nissen-Wade said...

I am from so many of these same origins! Not Sydney (I started in Tassie and then went to Melbourne, from where I eventually came to northern NSW). And not chickens,, though neighbours had them. I found Tai Chi much later in life. And I am thankful indeed I did not lose my father at 12! But, otherwise, we are almost twins!

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