spirituality with pockets

It's t-shirt weather down here this week, which means for boys at least, it's shorts weather.

Here's Les Murray, one of Australia's greatest living poets on the dream of wearing shorts. This is the full poem, while the abridged version (as in the video) is below.



To go home and wear shorts forever
in the enormous paddocks, in that warm climate,
adding a sweater when winter soaks the grass,

to camp out along the river bends
for good, wearing shorts, with a pocketknife,
a fishing line and matches,

or there where the hills are all down, below the plain,
to sit around in shorts at evening
on the plank verandah -

shorts and their plain like
are an angelic nudity,
spirituality with pockets!
A double updraft as you drop from branch to pool!

to be walking meditatively
among green timber, through the grassy forest
towards a calm sea
and looking across to more of that great island
and the further tropics.