Bush Verse

The shaking shadows waking through the morning's misty haze
The morning bright with dappled light that heralds summer days

And on the far horizon the hills are burnished gold
Where now as for a million years another day unfolds

The gum trees by the river bed stand reaching for the sky
And somewhere in the distance a mournful curlew cries

All about, the endless plain grows warm with morning sun
Where spinifex and grass trees grow where roo and emu run

No rainclouds in the distance to soak the cracked red earth
To wash the ants from bleached white bones to help the land give birth

No raindrops fall from heaven
It hasn't rained for years
And all that man has left behind is blood, and sweat, and tears

For those who came to tame her departed long ago
Dreams buried deep by desert sands that never cease to blow

Dawn drifts into morning then into afternoon
And day gives way again to night to greet the rising moon

The cycle goes unbroken from year to passing year
Land sleeping and unwoken
To rise and reappear

© Marc Glasby 1998