Cirrus@Austlit

Series of 74 Haiku poems in 7 sections.

Dedicated to Alma E. Bird

Author note: The Long Paddock won the 2001 Spirit of the Outback Writing Competition, judged by Barbara Ker Wilson and run to celebrate 'Women in Australia's Working History'. It was published in Songs of the Unsung Heroes, 2002, by the Australian Workers Heritage Centre. I chose haiku as the most suitable vehicle to address some of the vast range of womens' contribution to Australia's working life. My forebears were pioneers on the Hunter, Manning, Tweed, Nerang and other rivers up into Far North Queensland. The "Bird women" were the glue of their families and my mother is an exemplar of the spirit of the outback. Many of these haiku are based on close observation of Mum's life, particularly her interaction with the natural world. I hope that all women who read it will find something of themselves in The Long Paddock