Astrid McCormick was born in Germany and developed a strong affinity for English and English literature early in life. In 1976, she was awarded an MA in English and Social Sciences and worked as a senior teacher. Having lived on Vanuatu in the South Pacific, since 1996 she has called Australia home. McCormick currently studies with the Oxford School of Poetry after having completed an MA in Cross-Disciplinary Art and Design at University of New South Wales, Sydney.
THE SPELL OF THE COOLING TOWERS
And again the day came when I walked alone,
it was rainy and cool, my winter coat warm.
I walked along the street I knew,
branches of plane trees swayed in the wind,
with autumn leaves dropping to the ground,
that filled the air with hissing and rustling.
A decision. As always, I crossed the street
with caution. Lingering by the black and grey walls
of houses standing on the corner,
do I instead go along, close
to the cooling towers? To walk
along close to those cooling towers.
My heart quickened in a cold spray of water as I turned the corner to the cooling towers, a silver curtain of rushing fears filled my hearing, above the rumble of unknowable deepness, fears mixed in the cool spray of water, walking close to the cooling towers.