Although he has lived in Sydney since 1967 (when he was thirty-four) Vivian Smith was born and grew up in Hobart, and Hobart and Tasmania have remained reference points of continuing importance in the formulation of his ideas and imagery. My title comes from the poem “Deserted Bandstand, Kingston Beach”, situated in Tasmania. A poem titled “Back in Hobart” declares “the permanence of place does not recede” as he visits “remembered, holy places”. Although he has also written many poems set in Sydney, his work has much in common with the “Lines” he wrote “for Rosamond McCulloch”, one of a…