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One Face of Australia


10.25.10 Posted in words to linger on by

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.





12 Responses to “One Face of Australia”

  1. Kay Middleton says:

    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.

  2. Sharon Poch says:

    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.

  3. This is heartfelt. It took me back to a time I need not forget. Thank you.

  4. Jean says:

    “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.

  5. Rita says:

    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

  6. CM Speed says:

    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.

  7. bobbie troy says:

    Wonderful imagery.

  8. John says:

    Kay you are too kind

  9. John McCallum says:

    Thankyou Sharon encouraging comments….got lots more prose where that came from

  10. John McCallum says:

    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

  11. John McCallum says:

    Hi Jean, your comments are very appreciated….

  12. John McCallum says:

    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

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