Melbourne Candid Series #1290 Flagstaff Garden

 

A chap with cropped hair stands close to the grill,
hands hovering, unsure where to begin.
Smoke lifts in steady, pale spirals
from the barbecue at the Garden stand.

He leans in, studying meat and flame,
as though the task might explain itself
if watched long enough,
heat pressing gently at his face.

Beside him, a short statue of a lady stands,
fixed in bronze attention,
skirts held in permanent motion,
eyes cast forward, unmoved by scent or sound.

People pass, trays fill, tongs are lifted.
The garden hums with ordinary appetite.
Man and statue share the moment briefly
one learning the shape of the grill,
the other keeping time without change.

Sony A7RV

FE 135mm f1.8 GM

Check out Candid 1047

Melbourne Candid Series #1181Swanston St

 

The sushi shop is closed,
its doors drawn in silence,
though only yesterday
the place was alive with voices
and the scent of rice and sea.

I did not expect its absence,
for it was well loved,
a small refuge on Swanston
where many found their share of comfort.

Two young girls paused before it,
hopeful, then uncertain,
their search for a simple meal
redirected into the city’s restless night.

So it is with such places
they flourish, they fade,
leaving only the memory
of quiet tables,
and familiar flavours gone.

Sony A7RV

FE 35mm f1.4 GM

Check out Candid 936