Thanks, Doug, and others.
I could not lift it above the parochial, sadly.
As for roofs, strange!
I know I go for hooves, so why did I write roofs?
Max, away from Seattle, in Melbourne with dreadful jet lag.
On Jun 16, 2016, at 8:01, Douglas Barbour <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Yes, for me, too, Max. I agree with Bill about the coach’s sudden appearance, though it may represent the remembering well. That ending feels a bit prosaic, though…
>
> I do like the sense of memory at work, for whatever reason…
>
> Doug
>> On Jun 16, 2016, at 12:33 AM, Patrick McManus <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>
>> Thanks-ah the excitement !! - the names for me are lost cheers P
>>
>> -----Original Message----- From: Max Richards
>> Sent: Wednesday, June 15, 2016 8:46 PM
>> To: [log in to unmask]
>> Subject: 'Our Runners in Black, 1960'
>>
>> Our Runners in Black, 1960
>>
>> I’d see him running past most days each week.
>> Both our families lived in Hargest Terrace,
>> postwar State Houses, somewhat look-alike,
>> tile roofs, some weatherboard, some yellow brick.
>> small front lawns, standard letterboxes.
>> (Hargest was a World War II V.C.)
>>
>> Murray ran lopsided, never looked strong.
>> It was the withered arm you noticed,
>> then his sandy coloring, that look
>> of ginger eyelashes. He’d attended
>> the other school. We felt smarter
>> and proud of our young runners.
>>
>> He took my sister out once; nothing
>> came of it. His training schedule
>> with a strict new coach took all week.
>> He made it in our Olympic team
>> that year. So did ‘my’ Peter Snell,
>> so stylish and strong, our school champ.
>>
>> Lydiard coached him too. Off they went, we
>> followed the team in black by radio
>> and daily paper. Few lodged bets.
>> Rome was so far away, so foreign.
>> When Peter won his gold we shouted.
>> Next thing Murray with his arm - the five
>>
>> thousand metres! we were delirious.
>> World-class courage, worn on his sleeve.
>> We boasted of their - and our - modesty.
>> We were a nation of runners, harking
>> back to Lovelock, quiet fifteen-hundred
>> surprise at Berlin ’36, who died so young.
>>
>> Peter and Murray, knighted, are still alive.
>>
>> Seattle, June 2016
>>
>> [Murray Halberg, born 1933;
>> Peter Snell, born 1938]
>
> Douglas Barbour
> [log in to unmask]
> https://eclecticruckus.wordpress.com/
>
> Recent publications: (With Sheila E Murphy) Continuations & Continuations 2 (UofAPress).
> Recording Dates (Rubicon Press).
>
> Automobile Accident
>
> Not finding where the flowers were
> he seized a tree.
>
> Lorine Niedecker
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