OUR WORLD - Somewhere along the way again . . .

On one of my many recent 8 hr. train trips to Melbourne

during my sister's last illness, there was a glimmer of false hope

in the sky viewed through double glass and my sunglasses.

Closer to the city, all the vital and not so pretty infrastructure

that keeps a large metropolis ticking over,

the somewhat seedy graffiti and torn up wooden sleepers

as well al the new concrete variety to replace them,

refineries,

as well as massive storage tanks.

The setting sun just prior to arrival lit up these man-made

giraffes

and added colour to the containers they shifted, that have

become such an integral part of our modern consumer society

and so to the electric suburban train system and imminent

arrival at the inter-state rail terminal.

Like most cities in the world, the outskirts often are somewhat

less than salubrious.