Trekking through memories
of lamp-lit holidays
choked by thorns and leeches,
I find myself revisiting Walhalla -
old gold-mining town,
old ghost-mining town.
There, in damp and misty air,
shrill bellbirds ring out loud
and chilblained hands
catch frogs in Stringers Creek.
Small feet in gumboots
creep by luck and match-light
through long abandoned
dry and musty tunnels.
Eager eyes read words
of anguish and despair
on tombstones half-buried
by time and blackberries.
Today the town is flooded
with tourists and electric light*,
yet that intangible spirit
of pioneers and pickaxes
still haunts Walhalla -
old gold-mining town,
old ghost-mining town.
*Walhalla was Australia's last mainland town to be connected to the national electricity grid in February,1998. The resident population is nine.
Alison Cassidy
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/revisiting-walhalla-valley-of-the-gods/
