Weathered blond as a grass tree, a huge Beatles haircut
raises an alert periscope and stares out
So, irresistibly, begins Les Murray’s Second Essay on Interest: The Emu.
The splendid picture above (Photo by DAVID ILIFF. License: CC-BY-SA 3.0″) shows the top of the periscope, which rises from the “huge Beatles haircut”.
You can read the full poem here
If this is your first encounter with Les Murray, welcome to one of the English language’s greatest living poets!
Clever: intertwining white Australian history and the emu – two strange birds.