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Showing posts with label suburbia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label suburbia. Show all posts

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Gardens II


Still wandering around
I keep wondering
About the choice of plants.
We all know about
Global warming and Victoria's
Shortage of water during the last drought.
It has certainly been an important factor
In the design of these small front plots
But the uniformity is somewhat unsettling
As it adds to the grey conformity
Of the houses and buildings.
The lack of colour is obvious
And the plants do add to it
By their drab colours of grey red,
Or purple green.
Water was scarce, we know that
But I was none the less taken aback
By the two patches of artificial grass
Surrounded by beds of gravelly stones
As a front display.
Bring a broom and quickly sweep,
The maintenance must be minimum!
L. Bailliet©
7/10/2012

Dans mon errance autour du quartier
Je me pose la question du choix des plantes.
Nous sommes tous au courant
Du réchauffement climatique et
De la pénurie d'eau au cours de la dernière sécheresse
En Victoria.
Cela a certainement été un facteur important
Dans la conception de ces petits lotissements,
Mais l'uniformité est quelque peu troublante
Comme cela ajoute à la conformité grise
Des maisons et des bâtiments.
L'absence de couleur est évidente
Et le choix des plantes najoutent rien à l’ambiance
Par leurs couleurs ternes de gris rougeatre,
Ou de vert terni de violet.
Nous savons que l'eau était rare,
Mais je n'en étais pas moins surprise
Par les deux plaques de gazon artificiel
Entourées par des lits de gravier
Dans le jardin de devant.
Vite un balai et balayez rapidement
L'entretien doit être minimum!
L. Bailliet ©
07/10/2012

Saturday, September 22, 2012

Six-thirty, Friday evening


Friday night, six-thirty pm,
The cars are in and out
The car park,
Their light switched on,
But barely lighting their way,
Most of them of indistinct colour
In that twilight hour and low cloud cover
They are frenetically turning around
Swishing that way or this way
Until they find an open bay
Where to park.
Most of them contain two to four people
This must be quite a popular venue
As the car park is filling rapidly
What is the name of the pub?
You have it wrong, this is Bunnings!
Gee, how much the Aussie psyche
Has changed in thirty years!
L. Bailliet©
19/09/2012

A promising walk


From the desolate modern landscape
Of a new suburb with its dead looking
Individual monotonous houses
On the same roads leading nowhere
Except on the one exit to the main road
Following the pathway bordering
The river with the black swans
Saluting or defying us
The only humans in view
Further down water fowl and ducks
Minding their own business
And ignoring us passing over the bridge
A wooden sign to welcome us
With the words Gorge Park.
The shock of it reverberating in us
Looking at the heavy electric lines
Desecrating the not so promising countryside
We followed them until a small track
Lead us across a paddock full of sentinels
Standing kangaroos on the alert
With only their head moving slowly
Shadowing our advance.
Spring flowers, wattles in full bloom,
What a glorious walk it turned to be,
And what a promising spot for future picnics!
L. Bailliet©
20/09/2012