Sing me gentle lullabies
that soothe me with their sound,
hold my hand ‘til morning
for then I’m on my way,
I’ll cross the land around me
I’ll see the morning sunrise
And watch the evening tide,

I’ll pick a desert bloom for you
And watch the petals fall.
I’m but a wind that’s calling
I’m but a fallen soldier trapped inside your spell,
just another casualty
of a land that holds my heart,
a land of hidden beauty
and one I know so well.

Treat this land with kindness
See the gifts it gives,
Learn its ancient wisdom
calm its troubled heart,
bring it peace and shield it
from the souls who mean it wrong,
stand proud beneath the gum trees
and sing a song or two,
give it all you’ve got inside
and she’ll be true to you.

Australia has my respect, always has, always will.

By Janette Hill
(From her book ‘Gum Tree Lines’)

Dreams are dashed

Ambition thwarted

Plans that were made are now aborted.

The scorching sun bakes the landscape bare.

Animals starve – want everywhere.

They search for grass but there’s nothing there.

New born lambs so weak they fall –

Their mothers have left them –

They’ve no milk at all.

The swirling dust blots out the light,

It fills our eyes and blinds our sight.

As creeks and dams begin to dry,

I see it all – and wonder – why?

Nature sometimes makes us cry.

Misfortune seems to plague this land.

We’ve always got some strife at hand!

But farmers know – one day it will rain,

And when it does, they’ll rejoice again.

By Warren Tanner

August is Poetry Month and aims to celebrate Australian poetry, poets and publishers.

Dorothea Mackellar’s has penned one of Austalia’s most iconic poems “My Country” and it has been immortalized on a maize mill in Gunnedah.

This is the famous second verse.
I love a sunburnt country,
A land of sweeping plains,
Of ragged mountain ranges,
Of droughts and flooding rains.
I love her far horizons,
I love her jewel-sea,
Her beauty and her terror
The wide brown land for me!

NOTE: Readers are welcome to submit creative writing for publication (preferably less than 500 words). Send contributions to editor@parkesphoenix.com.au.

05

With big, soulful brown eyes fringed by extraordinarily long lashes, Bully was beautiful. Weighing nearly 1,000 pounds, he would come to the fence every time we passed by his yard, happy to be around us and looking very pleased to see us.

His mother had died a week after he was born and we had adopted him, feeding him with bottles until he was old enough to eat grass.

His constant companion was Arnold, a merino sheep who was born a twin and subsequently rejected by his mother as he was the ugliest sheep on the property. He looked as though he had run hard into a brick wall and squashed his face flat.

As a tiny baby he had scoured until we thought he would not survive, but a diet of boiled water and glucose along with a warm bath in the laundry tub, followed by a session with the hair drier saved his life.

Both animals were very sure that they were part of our family and loved us accordingly.

Arnold had been brought for a walk from his paddock to our house and not only knew the way but also knew how to get across the ramp without falling through the slats. He was happy to educate Bully in the fine art of lifting the chain to open the gate as well as how to cross the ramp.

Standing at the sink to wash the breakfast dishes, I gazed out the window to check the progress of the young trees along the back fence. Much to my astonishment, Bully and Arnold came skipping around the corner and continued across the backyard. Arnold had brought Bully over for a visit.

The sight of a full-grown bullock cavorting across our back yard in the company of an ugly sheep was a sight not to be forgotten.

By Margaret Irwin