Studying the lineage of plants:

native fuschias (epacris longiflora)

red and white insignia

   splashed in bushes at Balls Head Point

half of ‘the inner heads’

      opposite Ballast Point, Balmain

 

and tiny etchings unexpectedly

          revealing the same pendulous flowers

on dark-panelled walls in the Menzies Hotel

down-at-heel residence in the financial district

way down in the lowlands of the City

 

well-drawn lines in ink from the late 80s

     the 1880s that is, confusion of centuries

Department of Agriculture draughtsmen matching colours

flowers amongst the musty, over-padded rooms

          of a stuffy old city

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

© Stephen Cassidy, 2003

Studying the lineage of plants

poetry