The Lookout

A hundred years ago
You walked this avenue
That I now stroll along
Transfixed by harbour views
Heading for the lookout
That bears a Lady's name
The floating fort still there
Some things stay the same.
They spill down to the water
Each terraced ledge of grass
The splash on rusted sandstone
As the ferries pass
Stench of human waste
Jars my reverie
Leeching from the rock face
Like rotten policy.

Gentle rain now falls
Cleansing all around
Rush me back to childhood
Where memories are found.
Warm me in such memory
Warm me by this view
Some fifty years ago
I walked this avenue.

© Jim Low 2007


Read Jim’s article about  Lady Gowrie Lookout.