The five arches at Footscray

Time and the river
       the five arches
that my father painted
       when we were children

Time was young then
       but time has grown old
much water over the weir
       many generations of geese
and ducks and swans
       and moorhens
and many seasons
       of acorn and sycamore seed
all ground to dust
       I feel the damp earth
under foot as I stroll
       across the meadow

A field of memories
       where lovers
of every age come
       hand in hand
to parade the undying bonds
       that bind them

John Lyons