Saturday 27 November 2021

Shire of Hepburn, Dja Dja Wurrung Country

 

Red dust rises with my spirits

as I pull into the parking lot

and walk in the footprints

of guests in garden attire.

 

Reaching paddock-fringed gardens,

I stand amongst familiar faces

of long-lost mates

and feel my grin grow.

 

I meet my mate’s husband-to-be

for the very first time.

I now know this rural bloke —

Damien — is Nate’s ideal match.

 

Soon each groom

walks down a natural aisle

with his sister & his canine

to sounds of sincerest acoustic music.

 

Their self-penned vows bring

tender laughter & many an aww.

Their formal vows bring

them together on legal paper.

 

As night falls on grazed farmland,

we eat from gourmet food trucks

and raise our matching stubby holders

to Nate’s off-the-cuff speech

about obstacles & gratefulness.

 

 

Stereo Story #662

I am grateful to my friends, Nate and Damien, for permitting me to write about their wedding.

 


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Michael Leach is an award-winning poet and academic based in Bendigo on unceded Dja Dja Wurrung Country. Michael’s poetry collections include Chronicity (Melbourne Poets Union,2020), Natural Philosophies (Recent Work Press, 2022), Rural Ecologies (In Case ofEmergency Press, 2024), and Chords in the Soundscapes (Ginninderra Press, forthcoming).