We drove out of the city
the car sizzling
the traffic
maddened by the heat
the desert wind
through the windows.

The suburbs dark with soot
petrol stations, car yards,
two men on their brick verandah
in singlets, beers in hand
watching the traffic
in the apricot light
of the late afternoon.

But the bush
full of silence
the wind at night
the sound of sea waves
high in the gum trees.

*Antigone Kefala was born in Romania from Greek parents. She left with her family at the end of the war for Greece and from there to New Zealand. Studied at Victoria University of Wellington and now lives and works in Sydney. She writes in English and has published a number of books of poetry and prose: “Absence – New and Selected Poems” (Hale and Iremonger), “Sydney Journals” (Giramondo Publishing) and in 2009 MAX: “The Confessions of a Cat”, an English and Greek edition by Owl Publishing.