John S McCallum is a surfer that dropped out of the city of Perth to Margaret River about 22 years ago. He finished his science degree about 35 years ago and then hitchhiked around the United States, Canada, and Mexico trying to find himself (that discovery occurred on a Mayan pyramid in the middle of the Yucatan Peninsula). He didn’t like studying English is school, but after the pyramid experience he began to write short stories and prose and he hasn’t stopped. His poem here takes us on a bit of a finding oneself trek into John’s homeland, mapped in the life of one man.
One Face of Australia
By John S McCallum
This sunburnt country inscribed on his forehead
Brown leathery skin stretched over his prominent features
Wrinkles like growth rings on an ancient tree
Squint lines radiate …
From the corners of searching, watery, blue eyes
As if scanning distant places for lost and expectant traces
Facial muscles strain …
Accommodating that broad-rimmed smile
Not over the top, conservative, humble yet strong
A taciturn life …
His mouth again reverts back to become another line …
Jaw again set like an anvil
His face reflecting …
This tempered life, stiff upper lip, minimal emotion
Memories of war, depression, hard times
His conversation …
A pencil sketch of a rustic outback house
With all the colour, melancholy and romance
A voice …
As hollow as the vastness he used to embrace
Spliced with that sinuous resilience of a desert plant
This portrait, this face …
Is as dynamic as the cactus is succulent and sweet
Beneath its waxy facade of thorns.
Brilliant. A tacturn life… jaw like an anvil… spliced with that sinuous resilence… waxy facade of thorns. It was easy to see my own father in this discription. The juxtapostion and the love were tactile. I could carry them in a bowl and serve them to others. Thanks.
An evocative portrait of ‘Everyman’ and the search for life meaning told with a stark beauty. Look forward to more work from “down under.” Thank you, John.
This is heartfelt. It took me back to a time I need not forget. Thank you.
“A pencil sketch of a rustic outback house”
“A voice …
As hollow as the vastness he used to embrace”
“…this face…dynamic as the cactus is succulent …
my favorte phrases among many great ones.
Thank you for sharing this wonderful work.
you paint a vivid picture
I think I’d like this Australian if I met him in the outback.
I like the poem very much
Mr. McCallum, a beautiful account of one face, yet many faces. The “jaw set like an anvil” is an incredible image. Thank you for sharing this poem.
Wonderful imagery.
Kay you are too kind
Thankyou Sharon encouraging comments….got lots more prose where that came from
Hi Jeanette, yes I wish I had said a lot more to my father when he was alive – he had a hard life in the NW of Aussie (harsh & hot)….cheers
Hi Jean, your comments are very appreciated….
Hi Rita, you would have liked my father but you would have had to do all the talking … getting words from Dad was sometimes like extracting teeth.. John