Further Images / Return to 2019
Description: For this City of Sydney Library Artwork Display Program, extracts from two poems by local authors were presented in the foyer of Surry Hills Library.
September Display: Patrick Martin
HAVE YOU EVER SAT IN THE GUTTER WITH THE SHADOW OF A MAN CURSED IN THE DARKNESS NOT KNOWING WHAT IT WAS YOU DID WRONG?
Patrick Martin was born in Central Western NSW in 1947. At age three his mother died from kidney disease so he was brought up by his three older sisters, meaning his childhood was disrupted. Patrick moved to Sydney when he was sixteen, after his father died and lived on the streets, in parks and homeless shelters until he got work with a plumbing wholesaler and moved into a boarding house. Patrick can’t remember a time when he didn’t write poetry, often on the insides of torn cigarette packets, bits of paper he found in parks or hand towels when he could find some. Patrick says, “Poetry saved my life...no matter how black things got, poetry always helped me find my light.” This text is an extract from Patrick Martin's poem titled 'Shadow Of A Man'.