Revenge of the Gnome
Neale Morison January 2007

There's a fibro Emoh Ruo, a palazzo by its side,
And a stucco pink pagoda called Dunroamin.
It's a peaceful clash of cultures where the decent folk abide,
And where any would be proud to make a home in.

The scented frangipani drifts on pebbled concrete paths,
The tyre swans glide serenely on the lawn,
The letterboxes arch and curve on neatly welded chains,
And the passionfruit and chokos greet the dawn,

And there, amidst the kangaroos, the fairies and the nymphs,
The deities of ancient Greece and Rome,
Beside the birdbath, near the tiny ornamental bridge,
The guardian of the garden, stands the gnome.

He keeps his thoughts beneath his cap, his words behind his beard,
His eyes are shaded under shaggy brows,
But a grim and piercing twinkle seems to glint within their depths,
He is small but doughty, dangerous to rouse.



One day on the horizon rises something cold and strange,
Of ferroconcrete, brutal, blank and grey,
Below a labyrinthine subterranean garage,
Above a bulk that blocks the light of day,

There's a twenty seat home theatre, and a pool room by the pool,
Conservatory complete with marble dome,
But in the meagre strip around this monumental pile,
No lawn, no swan, no kangaroo, no gnome.

The washing never dries upon the patent washing line,
The passionfruit turns yellow and decays,
The sun no longer burnishes the choko on its vine,
And the tyre swan swims no longer in its rays.

But though the day is dark, there is a brightness in the night,
A greedy roar, a crackling, popping glare,
The fairies' faces flicker in the eerie orange light,
And a howl of sirens rends the smoky air.

They could not save the monument, it lies a blackened wreck,
Miraculously, nothing else was harmed.
Authorities seek perpetrators, brace for more attacks, 
The watchword is alert, but not alarmed.



And there, amidst the kangaroos, the fairies and the nymphs,
The deities of ancient Greece and Rome,
With burns upon his mittens and with soot upon his nose,
The guardian of the garden, stands the gnome.


mneale@bigpond.net.au