Australian Archaeology

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Archived at Flinders University: dspace.flinders.edu.au

Full Citation Details:

Brissenden, R.F. 1978. By the Shore. 'Australian Archaeology',

no.8, 17.

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B Y T H E S H O R E

I walked t o d a y a l o n g t h a t g r a s s y s h e l f Above t h e b e a c h where once we made o u r camp And l a y t o g e t h e r l i s t e n i n g t o t h e s e a .

The s h e l f i s now a n a r r o w i n g l e d g e : t h e wind, The r a i n , t h e s u r f and man w i t h h i s v a g r a n t w h e e l s Have b r o k e n down t h e bank t h a t looked s o f i r m . Our t e n t - f l o o r now would hang f o u r f e e t i n t h e a i r Above, t h e s a n d , and where o u r camp-fire b u r n e d T h e r e f a l l s a t u m b l e d s c r e e of s h e l l and bone:

The k i t c h e n l i t t e r o f a thousand years-- B l e a c h e d a b a l o n e , t u r b a n - s h e l l and t r i t o n Slowly commingling w i t h g r e y e a r t h and s a n d . The weekend r u b b i s h of o u r d i r t y t r i b e

L i e s on t h e g r a s s

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c a n s , p l a s t i c , s h a t t e r e d g l a s s : A t l e a s t I b a s h e d and burned and b u r i e d o u r s . But s t i l l we l e f t o u r b l a c k u n l o v e l y s p o o r B e n e a t h t h e s o i l

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my m a t t o c k and my spade

Loosened t h e r o o t s , o u r w h e e l s h e l p e d gouge t h e r u t s T h a t w i t h e a c h s t o r m s c o u r d e e p e r . A l l l i f e marks The e a r t h i t moves on

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b u t t h e mess we make Seems f i l t h i e r t h a n most: we've f o u l e d t h e n e s t . And t h o u g h t h e b l a c k man's midden s t a n k , h i s dung Bred f l i e s , h i s f i r e - s t i c k r a z e d t h e bush

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t h e g r a s s Where h i s b a r e f e e t p a s s e d s p r a n g back g r e e n and f r e s h .

( R e p r i n t e d w i t h k i n d p e r m i s s i o n by t h e e d i t o r 05 Quadrant)

Archived at Flinders University: dspace.flinders.edu.au