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John Kinsella

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Courtship and Country Towns

Without really knowing why,
they found themselves
getting away to the city
or neighbouring towns

whenever the opportunity
arose.  It wasn’t that they
disliked the girls they’d
grown up with, rather

that they were almost sisters
and it seemed a little strange
setting up for life with family.
Sure, it was okay messing

around behind the wood shed,
or on the school bus, or after
a bottle of green ginger wine
at a dance, but these were things

you did with no strings
attached.  And the girls
seemed to prefer blokes
visiting from the city,

or the neighbouring district.
Their Mums all said it’s a pity,
it would be nice to see our
families wed, but the wind

disperses the seeds of a dandelion
so that they spread and find room
to prosper in fertile earth.
This town has a constant

thirst for new blood,
despite the papers claiming
it’s slowly dying, and, in any case,
dandelions were introduced.

Page(s) 29-30

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