to a neutral voice intoning
bombs in marketplaces
and refugees washed upon the shore

to music of breath and skin
dark cascade of pillowed hair
gossamer feather of touch

to dreams of justice
from the vast sea’s edge
to beyond the distant shore

to a jacaranda blue day
dancing through the curtain
and kookaburras’ liquid burst of song

—
Neil Creighton is an Australian poet whose work as a teacher of English and Drama brought him into close contact with thousands of young lives, most happy and triumphant but too many tragically filled with neglect. It made him intensely aware of how opportunity is so unequally proportioned and his work often reflects strong interest in social justice. His recent publications have been in Poetry Quarterly, Autumn Sky Daily, Praxis mag online, Rats Ass and Verse Virtual, where he is a Contributing Editor. He blogs at windofflowers.blogspot.com.au