Competition

First Prize

Around the World in 80 Seconds
by Sarah Webster of
Green Valley, NSW

'Around the world in 80 days'

A crumpled roll of sallow parchment,
Lit by the dim fli     
cker,
Of blinking candlelight,
Unravels like a mystery,
To bear the stain of defiant black,
Embedded by an eager quill;
' J.V'

'In as few as eighty days,'

Ink pools into capricious puddles,
As steel bites paper,
To etch its blunt words,
‘Eighty days.’
Perhaps Phileas Fogg,
Had never travelled south.
Never felt the sundried soil,
Crumble beneath his polished suede.
I wonder how many sunsets,
Sink into the foaming waves,
On a voyage to Australia.

'His companions venture across the forests of India,'

Spices,
Of chestnut and burnt sienna,
Smoulder like a fiery rose,
Against the rubbery insides,
Of a tingling cheek.
Sapid with turmeric and cumin.
Vibrant fusions of colour,
Disperse through the very air we breathe.
Air that leaves you in a clammy sweat.
I have known the essence of India.

‘From Hong Kong to Yokohama (Japan), by boat… 6 days’

Twinkling lights that glimmer,
Like a shower of suspended stars,
Dart across the midnight sky.
Drums that pound and,
Dragons that dance,
Draped in kimonos of colour.
Beige slippery laces,
That tangle amongst the teeth,
Swash past the twisting tongue.
I have known the essence of Asia.

‘The voyage across the Pacific Ocean’ 

Fish that swim amongst the crevasses,
Of toes and limbs of faceted rock.
Seeds that crunch and snap,
Between the incisors,
As syrupy juices,
Slither down my chin.
Chunks of tangerine pulp,
Compressed beneath,
A zest–gilded tongue.
I have known the essence of the Pacific.

'Around the world in 80 seconds’

I have travelled around the world.
And I have purchased its cultures,
Trapped in plastic packaging,
At the zip of a monochromatic barcode.
I have seen;
The dragons dance,
The colours clash,
The sweetened pulp,
In one place,
Where this cocktail of culture,
Meets the cauldron of diversity.
I have inhaled the aroma of the world,
On this smorgasbord,
Australia.