Birdsville by Pauline Lewis

Issue TwelveIssue Twelve PoetryPoetry

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Pauline Lewis
Along a track so arid and forlorn

Maree left behind in the distance

A nine-hour drive to the infamous location

To delve into the history of its existence

 

Forward we go on the old stock route

Where explorers perished on gibber plains

Cameleers grappling to survive

The harshness of an ancient terrain

 

Europeans traced back to 1844

Exploring the land that God created

Oppressive heat and shelter lacking

Their mission seemed so defeated

 

Birdlife galore, hence our destination
Dingoes roaming in desert habitat

The Waddi tree portraying loneliness

Eerie hot winds and desert rats

 

To the eastern edge of the Simpson Desert

Lies the remote Aussie destination

Charles Sturt being an early explorer

The town that is now Birdsville haven

 

A hotel built in 1884 with weathered sandstone walls

A welcome refuge to global travellers

The spirit of the outback in all its sense

Panoramic views creatively spectacular

 

Surrounded by the regal channel country

And water supplied by the artesian bore

Birdsville township so beautifully remote

None other alike yet we explore

 

Temperatures recorded up to fifty degrees

New travellers to survey the back of beyond

Birdsville just a particle in God’s country

But historical to those who have been found