jml297

Nature abhors a vacuum, or so it’s sometimes said
Yet here I am, a fissure, unspooling like a thread
At a depth beyond plumbing, beneath bedrock, once tranquil
I am cocooned far below, beyond any geotechnical drill
Snug between prehistoric layers of sediment
Invisible, yet my presence is now an impediment

Beneath an ancient pathway, a songline for the ages
Footsteps compressed the layers above in incremental stages
Then hooves and wheels and trucks all soared along the bluff
I bore as much as I could manage, but, finally, enough
Sensors have been activated, a solution urgently needed
For now, the road is silent, my warning finally heeded

Photo of Victoria Pass by Harry Phillips, 1910 (Blue Mountains Library)

This poem was written a few months ago about Victoria Pass. This part of the Great Western Highway was the major road linking the Blue Mountains and the central tablelands, providing access to and from Sydney. After nearly two hundred years of continuous use, major cracks in the convict-built infrastructure resulted in its closure. Repairs are ongoing, with a new bridge structure underway. The pass is expected to open in mid-2027. There is an overview of the history of Victoria Pass here.

This was written to a prompt at my local writing group: unplumbed depths.

Photo: view from Victoria Pass lookout