Write With Me

DECADENT CONFECTION
By Brittany McGorm

(Created with AI assistance)

From humble beginnings,
selling milk and cream,
a new venture—
a new name:
Golden North.

Churning their own ice cream,
doors open to
Café North—
a place to share their craft.

Produce packed in ice,
sent out across the north.

Savour the sweetness,
a tango on the tastebuds
with every bite.

Nature’s golden nectar—
honey ice cream.

Uniquely Laura,
a South Australian icon.

PROBY
By Brittany McGorm


A dry rocky riverbed,
rarely a drop.
Thunderclouds gathering.

Hugh, on a young stead,
racing to beat the rains.
Clouds open up.

Water surges,
strength unseen.
A sudden raging torrent,
Fighting the young horse.

Hugh plunged in,
The water takes them—
horse and rider lost.

Then silence.

The water recedes.
A distant memory,
a moment in time.
Carried into history

THE POWER OF THE PRESS
By Brittany McGorm

We come from across the ranges,
A paper trail in our wake
Our heritage, our culture,
Spelled out in ink on every page.

In 1889 the Laura Standard came to be,
A publisher of stories,
Poems and local news.
A pioneer in its day,
The best means of making wants known.

An advocate,
Publishing of information.
Water conservation, irrigation,
The importance of bushfire prevention.

Once its own entity,
Amalgamation on the horizon.
Merging with the Crystal Brook Times,
Creating ‘The Laura Standard and the Crystal Brook Courier.’

The depression of the nineteen thirties,
Newspapers abandoned.
Merging with other papers,
Creating’The Northern Review.’

BLINMAN MINE
By Brittany McGorm

Tunnel as dark as night
Candles to light the way.
Danger at every turn.

Church hymns
Heard through the dark,
To raise the men’s spirits.

Working through
Blood, sweat and tears.
Building character
Along the way.

Dolomite containing
Copper minerals
As small as veins.

Blinman mine
Largest producing
And largest operating
Mine in the
Flinders Ranges.

THE SALAD BOWL
By Brittany McGorm

Gardens once lined the Rocky River.
Once an Oasis of colour, against the banks
Colours emerged from the shadows.
Greens, purple, yellow and blue.

Native plants in abundance.
Bright pink pacific reef
Used as colourful ground cover.
The soft purple of lilac
Attracting native butterflies.
The deep blue of blue bell
A stunning royal blue flower.
An abundant yet beautiful food source.

Orchids on the banks of the Rocky River.
Covered in netting reducing the beauty,
But a necessary bird deflection.

Arriving in North Laura in 1881.
Chinese market gardens
Erected on 7 acres.
A former grass paddock
Turned into a colourful vegetable garden.

Remnants of a bygone era
Now just a story passed on
To interested travellers.