30 Poems in 30 Days
Day 18 - My locale

Town of paradoxes

1.
The farmland is our chief attraction.
There, you can watch people
being paid to pick, squatting
between the rows, faces covered.

Or you yourself can pay to pick!
Fresh strawberries! Mouth-watering
cherries! Apples and pears!
Yes, take your pick, and pay for it.

2.
"Marsh" by name but not
by nature. Once considered
a valley worth damming
to water the nearby capital
(yes, dear reader, a bright
idea of soldiers quartered
on the hills above in 1942).

Today, there's the valley floor
oasis, and housing development
escalating up the hillsides.
(yes, dear reader, if you're
a First Home buyer, or Middle-aged
woman with Mother, or
someone who simply loves
the Western plains, do take
a brochure - the views can be
spectacular, and so affordable!)

3.
To reach the boundary
of capital city's Greater
Metropolitan Area
we need to scale escarpment slopes
and leave our views behind.

And yet we do. Tied as we are
to the attraction of cinema
and super store for gardeners
even services by Centrelink
Medicare, RACV.

So we dream of days when
we'll be a proper community - with
all the above plus museum, galleries,
and more than one cafe serving breakfast.
Except: we moved here to get away.

4.
Like the country ambience?
Like your own little piece
of paradise away from the
Rat Race?

The train commute will only
take you away from home
all day. Dinner's in the oven,
kids asleep. Enjoy.