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Ordnance Factory Maribynong

(25.1.04 for Frank Mc Gee)

Talking with Frank about my father
(a skilled engineer who worked
in armaments World War 2
at the Ordnance Factory Maribyrnong)
how he bore down gun-barrels
with demanding accuracy
honing and refining them
to the enth degree

how he desperately wished
to commit to the war
of the day he was fitted out
with his air-force uniform
(and looking so handsome)
war was declared officially over.

What I shared must have touched him
to grant me a glimpse of his Irish magic -
a tiny miracle he later concocted
in remembrance of my father.
Next month at the Celtic Club
he handed me a gift
carefully wrapped in soft white tissue
it was a glossy white ceramic mug - plain -
except for words inscribed in black

'Ordnance Factory Maribyrnong'

Pamela Sidney 2004
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