Summer STories
1 min
Family Destination
Kathleen Dzubiel
forced to sit
on the hard vinyl back
bench-seat in the VW
Kombi van
rear engine fumes
oily on the tongue
motor racket
vibrating in the ears
side clip-wing windows
no air flow
in the heat
whistling draughts
in the cold
travelling great distances
around Australia
year-long-road trip
confined for hours
taunted, staring
at passing landscapes
tropical greens, rich moss
salmon gums, dry yellow plains
dappled bush, misty creeks
showers dusting off eucalypts
banksia groves, low-lying coastal shrubs
desert rock, unmarked snow
we would never smell, touch
or step foot on
unless she deigned it so
boredom relieved
by the AM car radio
first time I heard
‘Yellow Brick Road'
first time
I could tune
out the pounding sound
of my mother's voice.
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