Goodbye Sunburnt Country
October 11th 2006 10:28
GOODBYE SUNBURNT COUNTRY
Sweep up the red earth; we won't need it now.
Remove all the Gum Trees; cut them off at the bough.
Wattle and Waratah - don't bother blooming,
tho' you've already withered away I'm assuming.
Cockatoo, Lorikeet - you won't need your colours,
change a shade of pale grey or something much duller.
Tell Kookaburras to cease their laughter,
let their disposition be glum hereafter.
Turn out the lights of the Southern Cross,
no one's around to lament their loss.
Demolish the three Sisters, build flats in their place,
sell Uluru for advertising space.
Put the 'Victa' away, sell the Hill's Hoist for scrap,
take the 'Island Continent' off of the map.
I don't hear the didgeridoos anymore,
nor the cries of Galahs or Bass Strait's mighty roar.
There's silence where once a symphony played,
an eerie great chasm as our memories fade.
I fear a hope-stripped country,
a land that's lost its way;
A shelf of absent stories,
a vacuum to greet break of day.
Sweep up the red earth; we won't need it now.
Remove all the Gum Trees; cut them off at the bough.
Wattle and Waratah - don't bother blooming,
tho' you've already withered away I'm assuming.
Cockatoo, Lorikeet - you won't need your colours,
change a shade of pale grey or something much duller.
Tell Kookaburras to cease their laughter,
let their disposition be glum hereafter.
Turn out the lights of the Southern Cross,
no one's around to lament their loss.
Demolish the three Sisters, build flats in their place,
Put the 'Victa' away, sell the Hill's Hoist for scrap,
take the 'Island Continent' off of the map.
I don't hear the didgeridoos anymore,
nor the cries of Galahs or Bass Strait's mighty roar.
There's silence where once a symphony played,
an eerie great chasm as our memories fade.
I fear a hope-stripped country,
a land that's lost its way;
A shelf of absent stories,
a vacuum to greet break of day.
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Comment by Lilla
From The Home Front
Enviro Warrior
Dream Herald
Esoteric Bookshop
I loved this poem for so many reasons. Great stuff. More, encore - when the mood strikes, that is.
Lilla.
Comment by Jas
Stories: Put Them in Your Brain
Food, Wine and Coffee
One Planet
J