'Peppercorn Tree' adapted from a Poem by Eugene Mangan
The Peppercorn Tree
The sandy waste of mining dust
A playground for the poor
Where slum was laced with cyanide
And mullock crushed from ore.
(And mullock crushed from ore)
For gold had been the target here
The landscape drab and drear
No garden here for upper class
Just sand and a Peppercorn tree
(Just sand and a Peppercorn tree)
For 10 young orphans of identical breed
(Soon to be separated in their hour of need)
The sand soothed their shoeless feet
The leaves of the tree forever green
Gave relief from the summer heat
A sturdy branch to swing from
Many a broken wrist
The purple seeds to shoot through reeds
The target seldom missed
(The target seldom missed)
The pungent smell of the springtime wax
Remains in the nostrils yet.
I wonder now, has the Peppercorn survived
The blow of the developers axe?
(The blow of the developers axe?)
Eugene Mangan