Wonthaggi Cemetery

THE HARPER OF LYRA
A Returned Man’s Remembrance at a First World War Grave in Wonthaggi Cemetery

Vega observed
through an atmosphere
of departure

above the beach,
a graven eye painted in moisture,
upon the curving pillar
of a harp

whose long fingernailed player,
in all probability blind,
continues eternally at his art

dripping melodies to earth
from within eruptive fireballs
of Lyra

plucking at strings
amidst uproar of the banqueting hall,
lists of guests tossing kisses and fruit.

He was our grim or ribald reminder
of the uselessness of printed
prayers

those read to us
out of a manual of worship
as we stood coveside dry weeping at graves
from our Dead Sea discharging souls

skulls underground sound boxes of the heart,
and the music is ours

Lyra, ‘The Harp’, a northern constellation seen from Gallipoli, containing ‘Vega’ the northern hemisphere’s brightest star.