Poem: Glencoe Tavern off the New England Highway
This week’s Poet’s Corner is from Glenn McPherson.
Glencoe Tavern off the New England Highway
Northern Tablelands, New South Wales
An introduction to Henry the fifth tries
To tie blame to ghosts of fathers. At the time
It seems reasonable. It is mid-term
break and we were headed for the Glencoe Tavern.
Between us there are enough half-degrees
To skin a cat. The Irish one,
Evans, teaches us a traditional toast
I don’t get. Tells us there’s a pine forest
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We drive past,
Where, on few occasions a year, there are
Mediaeval camps set up, and I wonder
What mead tastes like, that’s it. That, and the low
Smoke from fistfuls of pine needles.
I mean, the whole world lay out there, indefatigable
In the darkness. There are constellations
I don’t know, the ridiculous outline of cattle
Lumped together for warmth, breath rising
Off them like some Norwegian
Orgy. Every once in a while
An insect explodes against the car window.
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Though it’s called, The Red Lion, it’s the manic
Stare of a mounted cod head above the bar that greets us.
We order black beer like black creatures:
Furtive, beating
as little of the undergrowth as possible; who have drawn
Dry brush down river banks; who grow
Slowly accustomed to the light from the fireplace…
I guess you’re expecting, any moment, for me to string back
All this to Henry. To offer some profound meaning
To the play, to disagree. I sit all night, trying
Not to get up and run away, trying to think
Of something to say to these men, in this bar, in this
Town – but like the toast that goes around,
I am inarticulate.
Glenn McPherson lives in Sydney. Published in leading Australian poetry journals and anthologies, he has worked as a teacher for more than 20 years. Growing up in small country towns in Central Queensland and North Western NSW, he received his teaching degree from the University of New England, followed by his Masters in Education, then Masters in Creative Writing, from the University of Sydney. He helps run a school creative journal at Broughton Anglican College, assisting students in developing skills in journalism and creative writing. They published their first edition before the COVID-19 pandemic struck, and an interview with the celebrated Australian poet, essayist and teacher Mark Tredinnick was the first to be included in the journal.
Readers’ original and unpublished poems of up to 40 lines can be emailed, with postal address, to [email protected]. Submissions should be in the body of the email, not as attachments. A poetry book will be awarded to each accepted contributor.