Rabaul

Bright harbour in the stars, my home

Rabaul

Sweetness of home,
Green harbour of Rabaul
Ripe with fruit of Eden in hibiscus of black hair.

Volcano in the mountains,
Bougainvillea on fire
Old Mother bursts hot lava about her sons.

Here the lusty coasters
In seas of coral song,
And a moon delighting in the shadows' dance.

Shimmering birthplace,
Little bewitched town
Where skins of every colour sleep in the mango shade.

Butterflies of blood-red
Guard the graves of men
Crucified by Japanese for their Emperor's sun.

The Bird of Paradise
Feathers to a fan
And frogs go thumping, wumping in the rain.

Every daughter's scent,
This pungent copra air
Throbs through the night in a diseasing slumber.

Shuddering passion
In an elegance of dream,
Rabaul, bright harbour in the stars, my home.

Copyright © Potter's Clay, Anne McCosker, 1973

Schooldays, Rabaul early 1950s
Photographs © Susanne Webb (nee Donald) 2005, posted with her permission

Top left to right, Robyn Broadhurst (now Robyn Beardsell), Janet Ross, Marcia Searle; Carol Wright below Marcia; Extreme left, Sue Donald (now Sue Webb); Second left, Cynthia Schmidt (Can anyone give us any other names in these photos?)

Top row; left to right; Bede Wright, Geraldine Chapman, Timothy Coin, Marcia Searle, Cynthia Schmidt. Second row; far left, Eric Judd, second left, Peter Walsh, third left, Carol Wright; far right, Robyn Broadhurst. Front row; third left, Sue Donald.

Back row; far left, Eric Judd; third left, Carol Wright; sixth left, Robyn Broadhurst; seventh left, Cynthia Schmidt. Front row; far left, Bede Wright; third left, Sandra ???; fourth left, Geraldine Chapman; fifth left, Sue Donald.

Back row; far left, Bede Wright; second left, Geraldine Chapman; far right, Cynthia Schmidt. Second row; first left, Eric Judd; third left, Carol Wright; far right, Robyn Broadhurst. Front row; third left, Sue Donald.